EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Stars Elarica Johnson and Parker Sawyers Tell All About The Pandemic's Impact on 'P-Valley'
Season 2 of P-Valley, which is currently streaming on Starz, is a much different show than the one we left.
The first season of P-Valley aired on July 12th, 2020. The show was filming earlier that year and in the late stages of 2019. That means - for all of us whipping out the calendars at home - P-Valley was another of many shows that got majorly affected by the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This new upcoming season deals closely with the effects of Covid-19. As P-Valley is, at its core, about running a business, the pandemic not only affected the filming schedule, but also the subject matter itself.
The writers carefully wove the new road blocks of the modern day into an already intricate show. We watch characters deal with lockdowns, regulations, anxieties, and more that the world also had to face during this troubled time.
We got a chance to talk with Elarica Johnson and Paker Sawyers about the impact that this massive shift had on the production, themselves, and their characters.
The question we all face now, looking back at our time in quarantine, is how different where we are now is than where we would be had the pandemic never started. Due to the fascinating time in the show's lifespan, the same can be said for the trajectory of the characters on P-Valley.
Johnson shared that she thinks that for her character, Autumn Night, the destination is the same, but the journey was quite different.
"I think my character would have ended up where season one starts, of course, because it's a transactional situation. But the way that she moves forward with that would definitely be very different, and her relationships with people would be different had there not been Covid."
Sawyers felt similarly about the destination of his character, Andre Watkins. However, he thinks that the pandemic sped up Watkins's journey in a way that we may not have otherwise seen for another few seasons.
"I think for Andre the big catalyst, I guess, that propels him forward towards his new goal, his forever goal if you will. I think that would have happened a couple years later if not for Covid.
"Being at home, being a bum - you know what I mean?- and looking in the mirror every day and not recognizing himself. So, it was definitely a huge impetuous for, 'Get your stuff together, young man!'"
Much like their characters, both Johnson and Sawyers found themselves on different paths during the pandemic. Both were able to delve deeper into areas and explore crafts they otherwise would not have had the time for.
Johnson shared:
"I started up-cycling during the pandemic. I was like, I've gotta keep my mind busy and my hands busy...
"It's something I don't think I would have had the time to do anytime soon in my life with my career and stuff like that, if I didn't have the time to just sit down and think about something to do. It's become a love of mine, and I'm so glad I got the time to enjoy doing it."
Sawyers similarly took up more artistic pursuits, delving deeper into various fields that lie just outside his normal acting realm.
"I guess I got further into art, like painting or playing new instruments, and so, I got myself a really nice electric guitar. But I started acoustic during the first season of P-Valley."
P-Valley is currently streaming on Starz.
