WHEN I was first introduced to Elarica, I was pleasantly greeted with immediate warmth and the familiarity of an accent instantly identifiable as a fellow Londoner. Along with redefining a new era of TV, portraying strip club culture through the rarely-showcased lens of the female gaze, P-Valley has catapulted 30-year-old Elarica Johnson into an alternative haze of stardom, having taken on the leading role as the enigmatic Autumn Night.
Autumn frequently suffers from abruptly fleeting flashbacks, which although veiled in mystique, appear to depict her efforts to flee from a violent past. Based on the play by Katori Hall, the innovative series depicts the world of stripping predominately through the eyes and ears of black female and queer characters.
Elarica Johnson. Photograph: Jack Alexander
Located in the heart of the Mississippi Delta, viewers are first exposed to a superficial glimpse of strip club culture, comprising a stage heavily peppered in dollar bills and surrounded by the cheers of men eager to express their gushing gratitude. However, a closer observation reveals a riveting haven of grit and glitter, devoted to catching the attention of the beautiful, the broken, and the damned.
With Uncle Clifford (Nicco Annan) encouraging his dancers to embrace the stage as “your stepping stone, not your tombstone”, the women of P-Valley are not merely strippers, but powerful emblems of potential, spirit, and ambition.
Elarica remained down-to-earth and genuine throughout our entire conversation, yet honest with regard to her experiences, detailing the importance of starring in a show that recognises all kinds of identities, while also addressing themes inclusive of race, gender, sexuality and class. She speaks to Glass about the art of pole dancing, the significance of relevant movements and communities of today, and what she hopes her audience can learn and gain.
Did you do any research on the Mississippi Delta and southern culture before taking on your role? How did you prepare for the deep southern accent?
I did as much research as I could – the internet is always your friend, and YouTube is fantastic for that because you can learn about lots of different people from different parts of the world. I also did a lot of research on people growing up in the south – I’m a London girl, so of course it is a huge cultural difference.
I especially noticed this difference when I went to Atlanta, from the music to the people and the way that they greet you. During the pilot, I got to meet the girls from the show, particularly Brandee Evans who was brought up in Mississippi, so she had a first-hand outlook on being a girl who grew up in the south. I spoke to her about her upbringing and how she feels as a black woman in the south, and what kind of cultural things she has that I maybe don’t. I also had fantastic coaches – I had a fair few actually, as we were doing it via Skype, and they were all brilliant and very patient with me.
I’m not the best at accents, but I’ve got the general American one down, so adding the southern vibe to the accent was difficult, but we worked really hard and we got through it – I like to think my character Autumn Night comes across as quite authentic!
Elarica Johnson. Photograph: Jack Alexander
What attracted you to the role?
To be honest, it was one of those that was handed over by my agent, and I immediately went “Oh, it’s about strippers, not too keen on that to be honest”, and not because I have an opinion on strippers or the stripping culture of any such, but from what we’ve seen on TV and films, there is a certain outlook on women who work in strip clubs, and it was not something I wanted to portray, back then and beforehand, but my agent said, “look, just read this, it’s written by Katori Hall”, and straight away I knew who she was, and I was like “what? she’s doing a TV show?”.
It’s very clever, it’s super smart, and it’s a female-led TV show. It’s brilliant because it’s about women, empowerment, friendship and love – it’s all of those things that we are, as women, but really and truthfully and honestly put on a page, and then put on this show.
From that moment on, I thought, wow, these girls are incredible. In particular, my character Autumn Night is hugely mysterious and complex – these are the kind of roles I have played, and hope to continue playing throughout my career.
Elarica Johnson. Photograph: Jack Alexander
The show is seen through the lens of the female gaze, symbolising the characters confidence but also vulnerability away from the pole and the spotlight, which takes on a completely different approach usually adopted by the media, quite often marginalising and dehumanising exotic dancers. Do you think the show has the power to challenge the stigma surrounding strip club culture?
100 percent – I wouldn’t have done it otherwise. Through the language, through the characters, through the journeys – it challenges that in every single way. That’s the biggest thing people will take away from it, because we are highlighting the women and we are highlighting that they are strippers, and that’s okay – we’re not shying away from that.
They dance for money, they lap dance for men, they twirl the pole, but it’s way more than that. Their pole dancing is mesmerising, and that’s what it really is, because I’ve seen it in real life and it’s incredible. It’s just a skill of understanding the world – if you’re going to be a master of a world, whatever world it is, be a master, be a boss – and these girls are exactly that.
They’re making money and living their lives, but outside of the club they are still everyday women with the same issues and the same kind of friendships and relationships as other people, so why have we not seen them? Why have we only seen them in one super over-sexualised way? I understand it is a sexualised thing that they are doing, but in a way that it’s frowned upon – why have we only seen that?
Why do people have such strong opinions when they haven’t actually looked into the world to see what we’re doing? So yes, I do think in every way, we will be changing people’s opinions, and if not, we are still highlighting and showing people what the world is like, and hopefully offering them a stronger opinion but on the other side.
Elarica Johnson. Photograph: Jack Alexander
With Uncle Clifford assuming the role of house mother, P-Valley’s representation of the family bound together by choice rather than blood is a key element that I’m sure will resonate with many of your viewers – can you talk about the importance of the chosen family and how you think your viewers will potentially react and benefit?
The chosen family is huge in everyday life. I’ve done it, and I live my life by it – you can’t pick the blood family you get, but damn can you pick your family. I found friends that are family off of the set, when in hair and make up and costume, but also on set through our characters, which is what they eventually become.
It’s hugely important because you see people come together and build this friendship that becomes so much stronger, and you have people to take care of you and people that you trust. At the moment, we’re having lots of conversations about Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ community, and within that, trans and non-binary conversations, and they’re all just people that want to be heard, noticed and listened to.
Here in the world, it has everyone – they are all complex characters in their own different ways, and then on top of that, you have everybody in writing coming together and helping each other out.
You get to see how working together becomes a huge theme of the show, so yes, it’s very important, and it’s going to bring a comfortability to the audience because everyone knows what it feels like to have a family or someone who cares for them, whether they’ve built that through friendship or whether they’re born into it.
Elarica Johnson. Photograph: Jack Alexander
The timing couldn’t be more perfect for a show like P-Valley to surface on our screens, with America demanding to be listened to and heard, in addition to similar events happening in the UK also. With this perspective in mind, what do you hope audiences can gain from watching the show?
It’s a learning show, and you learn so much from it. The characters created by Katori have so much depth to them, because they’re all on different journeys and they all have different traits and they’ve been through different things and come from different places, but they still have their similarities and so as an audience member, you will be able to relate.
There are plenty of people in the show to relate to, and we are in a climate now where people are fighting for equality, whether that’s to do with your gender, your race, or what you identify as – there is just so much going on right now. At the forefront of Black Lives Matter, people are angry because we’ve been fighting for a very, very long time for equality. We’re even fighting just to let people know what Black Lives Matter actually means.
There is a whole world full of people that just don’t think it matters or even exists, simply because they don’t understand it. This is a show full of people who are of black heritage, and we have this platform to be able to do these shows and share these stories, because everybody has a story that demands to be told. Otherwise why have TV and why have stories? Why tell them, if not everyone is being represented on our screens?
That is why it is a perfect time for a show like this, because of the women, because of the black men and women and the conversations they are having. It’s an all-rounder, and I’m really confident it’s going to make quite a difference in people’s learning and understanding of the world and society that we live in.
Elarica Johnson. Photograph: Jack Alexander
The pole-dancing scenes are showcased as works of art and executed with immense power and grace. I’ve heard it requires a lot of core strength and training – had you done pole-dancing before? If not, what did the process involve?
I’d like to make this clear, because I think some people have seen some of the initial stuff and thought, “you’re incredible!”. That was not me guys!
We had some incredible dancers on the set, and a lot of them were actually strippers. We also had body doubles, but the only one of us that could really do the pole dancing was Brandee, although she did have to work really hard to get some of the moves right and make sure she looked authentic on the pole. She had a body double, but a lot of the tricks and stuff she did herself.
We did intense training – we were training for our lives. Every part of your body, muscles, everything you do for pole dancing – it’s incredible. I started off not being able to lift myself up. I had no upper body strength at all, but I’ve come away with some skill on the pole! I can confidently get on the pole and do a couple of spins and tricks – it’ll probably be my party trick from now on. I feel very lucky to have been able to train with these girls and gain confidence and believe in myself, which felt very freeing, and of course was a fantastic part of doing the show.
Do you have a favourite character?
I love Uncle Clifford – he’s incredible. Nicco is fantastic, he is such a beautiful soul and such a lovely guy and a fantastic actor. I loved being on set with him, and I think he is going to be much loved by the audience.
by Cara Jenkins
P-Valley is on STARZ in the US and STARZPLAY in the UK now
Photographer: JACK ALEXANDER
Stylist: THOMAS GEORGE WULBERN
Hair and make up: AMIE WILLIAMS using NARS COSMETICS
Talent: ELARICA JOHNSON
Look 1
Shirt: PATRICK McDOWELL
Trousers: S DALEY
Shoes: GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI
Look 2
Coat: ISABEL MARANT
Look 3
Trench: S DALEY
Shoes: GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI