‘P-Valley’: Fans Just Discovered Why Shannon Thornton Who Plays Ms. Mississippi Looks So Familiar
While its freshman season has already come to a close, fans cannot stop talking about Starz’s latest hit drama, P-Valley. Set in Chucalissa, Mississippi, the series follows the tight-knit group of women working as exotic dancers at the town’s infamous strip club, The Pynk.
The series is the on-screen adaptation of playwright and series creator, Katori Hall’s play, Pu**y Valley. Season 1 followed, The Pynk’s owner, Uncle Clifford (Nicco Annan) as she struggled to hold onto the club despite mounting debt. Meanwhile, the club’s dancers, mysterious newcomer Autumn (Elarica Johnson), the non-nonsense Mercedes (Brandee Evans) who has a plan for retirement, and Keyshawn aka Ms. Mississippi (Shannon Thornton) a woman looking for peace, are all trying to find their footing.
Though everyone involved in the series has worked in TV or on the stage preciously, fans have just realized why Thornton looks so familiar.
This is why Katori Hall was inspired to write ‘P-Valley’
P-Valley didn’t happen overnight. Hall has described an arduous process of the pushback she received in Hollywood when she pitched the show. Even when she got the pilot greenlit, it was shot back in 2018 and though it was picked up to series several months later, it still took nearly two years for the show to get to the screen.
Still, Hall knew that the culture was ready for the series. After all, one rapper had skyrocketed to fame, and she inspired the series as a whole. Hall explained to ELLE,
Cardi B literally rolled out the Pynk carpet for P Valley. I was following her on social media when she was a dancer because I loved her personality. She was funny as fu*k and smart as fu*k, and even being young, she was this vibrant and political woman who was articulating herself in this powerful way. So fast forward, she just popped, and this story about this stripper-turned-rapper was on everyone’s tongue. She made other people feel comfortable and be more accepting—and was unapologetic about it the entire time. She was the starting point.
Shannon Thornton is in awe about the show’s success
P-Valley was a labor of love, and after two years, Hall and the actors including Thornton knew that they had something special on their hands. However, there was one moment that left Thornton stunned regarding how big the series had exploded. She told The Source,
The cast, we have a group chat. I remember finding out that Toni Braxton watches P-Valley, and the first time I freaked out. There are other celebrities who will like to post something or tag me or say something about P-Valley. But Toni Braxton did and a few people in the cast who were freaking out about that, but it’s just nice that we have each other because we’ve all been through it together for about two years.
This is why Shannon Thornton who plays Ms. Mississippi looks so familiar
Though Thorton has had smaller roles on shows like Dynasty, Power, and Rise, many fans realized she looked eerily familiar because many of us have been looking at her face for years.
Thorton used to be a print model for major Black hair brands like Creme of Nature, and Outre which means many of us have seen her face for years in various beauty supply stores across the world.
Honestly, that’s pretty iconic.
