Da’Vinchi & La La Anthony Reflect On Growth, Power And ‘BMF’ Season 4 – Essence

With the fourth season of STARZ’s hit crime drama BMF premiering today, the cast returns with more tension, power struggles, and personal evolution than ever before. Inspired by the real-life story of Demetrius “Big Meech” Flenory and Terry “Southwest T” Flenory, BMF dives deeper into the brothers’ diverging visions for their empire—and the personal sacrifices it takes to maintain it.

At this year’s Roots Picnic Con in Philadelphia, ESSENCE spoke with Da’Vinchi—who stars as Terry—just before he took the stage for a panel discussion about BMF alongside music supervisor Derryck “Big Tank” Thornton. Now entering another year as the grounded and tactical Terry Flenory, Da’Vinchi is more immersed in the role than ever before. “To not do just one season, but a second season and third season, and it being a hit—that’s every actor’s dream,” he said. “It’s like releasing an album that goes platinum, and then the next one goes platinum too.”

BMF’s continued success hasn’t dulled Da’Vinchi’s motivation. In fact, the actor says the longevity has deepened his connection to the role. It’s a character that he’s had to live in the longest in his career, bringing more context to this portrayal specifically. “Each season I’m exploring new avenues of the character,” he shared. “Sometimes I’m just like, damn, what would I do in this moment? And you have the freedom to create this world every time he’s being faced with something new.”

This time around, the Flenory family’s world has been shaken like never before. As Meech and Terry confront new enemies and deal with the consequences of their time in Mexico, the tension between them deepens, testing a bond that once felt unbreakable. To bring that dynamic to life, Da’Vinchi tapped into his own experiences growing up with brothers—understanding firsthand the push and pull of sibling relationships marked by both love and frustration.

Season 4 brings new layers to Terry’s character, especially in his complicated relationship with Markisha Taylor, played by La La Anthony. Their dynamic is passionate, volatile, and increasingly unpredictable. As she explained, this season shows her character finally stepping into her own.

“She wants to be a boss now,” Anthony said. “She’s tired of relying on men to get ahead, and she wants to have her independence. How she goes about it might not be the traditional way; but at the root of it, she just wants to be her own person.” That transformation wasn’t just written on the page—it came from La La’s own personal growth. “A lot of times we as women, even being a mom, we lose ourselves,” she noted. “We just become a mom or a wife and forget who we are. I drew from a lot of that with Markisha. She didn’t want to forget herself anymore.”

Despite the drama between their characters, the off-screen friendship between Da’Vinchi and Anthony made it easier to build tension and intimacy on screen. “We really became friends during BMF, and we got to talk about how we wanted to bring this to life,” Anthony said. “He’ll come into my trailer before we shoot a scene like, ‘All right, let’s run this.’ So we get to play and really get to a place where we feel good about it.”

This season, Markisha’s motives become increasingly complex, leaving viewers to wonder whether her connection to Terry is rooted in love or ambition. Caught between two powerful men, she navigates a tangled web of loyalty, desire, and self-preservation—all while trying to establish her own independence. Additionally, the show’s lasting appeal to its real-life origins and unpredictable twists is only one of the many reasons that BMF remains so compelling.

For Da’Vinchi, BMF is more than just a crime story. It’s a lens into generational trauma, survival, and ambition. “At the end of the day, these two brothers are victims of one of the most successful human trafficking systems in the world—the transatlantic slave trade,” he said. “So when you see their story, don’t judge it from the chapter you’re reading it in. Start from 500 years ago, and I think the story makes a whole hell of a lot more sense.”