Power Book IV: Force star Gabrielle Ryan has opened up about some of the struggles the team had while making the new series.

The actress plays the role of Gloria in the new spin-off series, which takes events to Chicago with original Power character Tommy Egan (Joseph Sikora).

While one would assume the Chicago weather would prove a challenge filming-wise, Ryan has admitted exclusively to Digital Spy that COVID-19 restrictions were actually trickier to navigate.

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Related: Power Book IV: Force's Gabrielle Ryan reveals trouble for Tommy Egan and Vic Flynn love triangle

"I personally didn't think the Chicago weather was that intense," she recalled. "I've been in New York for so many years back and forth that I was very, very ready. I think the LA members of our cast found it intense.

"Obviously, the challenge was that it was the height of the pandemic that we were doing this in, so we were in a complete bubble. We weren't allowed to do anything or go anywhere. We had to be just with each other.

"But the weather, I was really lucky I basically had no scenes outside. I think I was outside for a split second in the first episode and for those couple of minutes, I had just a sweat shirt on but I had so many heat pads like on my back, in my legs, in my feet. So even for those couple of minutes I was absolutely fine."

shane harper as vic flynn, gabrielle ryan as gloria, power book iv force
Sandy Morris//STARZ

Going on to praise "beautiful" Chicago, Ryan explained: "It's awesome the people are amazing. The food is exquisite. I would live there in a second. It was amazing. They were so welcoming of us.

"And it was really funny, wherever we went everybody obviously recognised the Mustang so we just kept hearing. 'Tommy, oh my god it's the Tommy show'. It was awesome."

Diamond Sampson actor Isaac Keys also touched upon the weather, explaining a line that Sikora improvised when Tommy says: "Oh, it was sunny and now it's snowing" before he is told: "Yeah, this is Chicago".

joseph sikora as tommy egan, power book iv force
Sandy Morris//STARZ

Related: Power Book IV: Force's Isaac Keys breaks down the CBI and Walter Flynn's ongoing conflict

"They had to add that scene, that line to make it work," Keys said. "Yeah, they did. Joseph did that he's like okay, and he just added the line. And it's like, 'oh, that works'. Like that's how amazing he is you know."

Power Book IV: Force airs every Sunday on Starz in the US and Starzplay available through Amazon Prime Video in the UK. Power Book II: Ghost seasons 1 and 2 and Power Book III: Raising Kanan are available to watch on the same streaming platforms.

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Power (Soundtrack from the Starz Original Series) [Explicit]
Ultra Records Power (Soundtrack from the Starz Original Series) [Explicit]
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