Priah Ferguson has spent most of her adolescence with one foot in the real world and one foot in the Upside Down. The Stranger Things star recently graduated from high school, and, as the vice president of her senior class, delivered a moving, tear-filled speech to the class of 2025. Her voice is instantly recognizable, even in the context of a public high school graduation, beyond a violently phantasmic dimension.
Since season two of Stranger Things, Ferguson has starred in the hit Netflix series as Erica Sinclair, the younger sister of Caleb McLaughlin's Lucas Sinclair. Her character started out as a small antagonist, of sorts, for her older brother and his geeky friends, but soon grew due to Ferguson's immense talent and scene-stealing delivery. By season five, Erica has damn near been fully inducted as a soldier in the battle against Vecna, the Big Bad of the series.
As Stranger Things ends, Ferguson, like most of the cast, is more than ready to take on new dimensions — namely, three-dimensional characters who fully represent her skill as a performer and her experiences as a Gen Z Black girl. Below, we speak with Priah Ferguson, on the eve of her 19th birthday, for Teen Vogue's New Hollywood Class of 2025.
Priah Ferguson: I have thought about it, maybe writing something of my own that people could see themselves in. But before I get into the writing aspects or behind the camera, I want people to see the range that I have always had [as a performer]. I've never had an opportunity to show the range…. I'm not a one-note actress. I've always had range, and I want to be able to show that. I think if people could trust me with that, they'll trust my writing, or they'll trust my producing.
PF: I'm 18, and the world is seeing me form into a young lady…. I don't want to keep being known as the girl that's sassy and always has these quick, witty remarks, because, one, that's not me in real life; and two, I'm more than that. So if a role comes my way that is written in a very detailed way with great writing, I'm down to take that on — and I also want to have a love interest in the role. I want to do something that Gen Z'ers can see and relate to, and something very soft and feminine that you don't see many young ladies in.
PF: Forever was good! I liked Forever. I've binge-watched that. They're going to have to make something happen. [Smiles.]
PF: One of the biggest things as an actor, period: I don't ever believe in getting too attached to a role. I think social media plays a real big part in that. If people see how you are in real life and they follow you on social media, they [can] kind of disconnect. "Oh wow, okay, this is Priah, but she plays a character as Erica."
…People [should not be] putting me in a box. When people get to know me personally and I'm having meetings with people, they [learn] that I'm not as sassy as Erica — which, [by the way,] Erica is not just sassy! I think people don't talk about that enough. But when people meet me in person and they see how soft I am, that also helps them disconnect [the character from me].
Now that I'm growing up and I look my age — I don't look 14 anymore — you want people to be able to [envision] you in several different things.
PF: It was awkward. Me being 18 and on social media, I'm showing I'm 18, and then I'm on set playing a 14-year-old. In the costumes, I'm kind of like, "Man, this feels strange." It was an odd feeling for me to tap into the 14-year-old [mentality], because Erica on the show plays [as] 13.
I still kind of see Erica as a little sister. So for me, being 18 and stuck in that space doing one-liners when I know I'm more than just a one-liner actress, it makes me feel weird. And honestly, I'm upset that the show is ending, because it was a part of my childhood. But I am ready to move on to other things that relate to my age now, and where, like I said, people can see my range.
PF: No, there wasn't. The people there who I worked with, they were cool, they were nice, we talked, but I guess me being the only Black girl on a predominantly white show, it wasn't hard… but I felt like nobody would really relate to what I might be feeling or going through. So I didn't really have anyone to say, like, "Hey, girl, this is what I feel like is going on." I just think me being the only girl of color in a space like that is different. And it's a learning experience, not only for me, but maybe for them as well. Because I was so young, I felt like I didn't have nobody to go to. I went to my mom about it, and she talked to me about it, and she told me the things that I needed to know. But I was also confident in that space, and I knew that I belonged there.
PF: Honestly, it is crazy, because when it comes down to the character, and when people say they don't like her... that's how she's written. I have no power in how Erica is written. I'm just doing my job. But I know when people see me in other things, hopefully, I will play a character they love a little bit more. I don't know. That's why I always make sure to tell people I have range, because I don't have power in the pen. That's up to the writers. The way that Erica is sometimes written, she can come off as sassy or aggressive, but I know that's not me.
Playing that character and growing up, I experienced different negative comments that I had to ignore and go through, but I'm also never going to let anybody play with me or make false assumptions about my craft and what I can do as an actress, and also my real life. People had something to say about my work and how Erica was written, and this and that, and people had something to say about my appearance.
PF: Having a strong support system, that plays a huge role…. Also, with me being from Atlanta, it's a certain type of confidence people from Atlanta just have at a young age. We feel like there's no limit to what we can do, especially the youth. We feel like we're overachievers, and we're always hungry, and we feel like we can be in any space that we are destined to be in. Being from Atlanta has helped a lot.
PF: I would say resilience. I think Erica is a very strong-minded person. She never wants to give up, and she's a polymath. She's not only sassy, she's really smart, and she has an answer to everything. And with her having the answer to everything, it helps shape the story together in little ways. She gets forgotten, but I think her character really does play a part in how the show comes together, and it matters because she says what everyone is thinking. She is relatable.
PF: Without [revealing] much, I would say filming my last scene, it was definitely emotional. It was emotional for me because at first, I was like, I don't know if I'm going to cry. But I did end up crying, because it was a character that was with me for my whole childhood, and I was feeling all the emotions of me closing this chapter. Also, closing the chapter of me graduating [high school], and it was like, Oh, wow, I'm really becoming a young woman.
So it was very emotional. But honestly, I was kind of excited to move on to the next chapter, I'm not going to lie. Everyone was crying and stuff, which was sad, and I was crying, too, because I was like, Wow, I'm going to miss all these amazing, wonderful people, but I'm ready to see what's next.
PF: Yes, exactly. I feel like I was coming into a whole new chapter of my life. Now this will all be great memories from my childhood. I did pass out roses to everybody [on set]. Everybody got a rose.
PF: This is tricky. The final season will answer a lot of the fans' questions they might have had. I think it will be emotional, but I also think it brings a nice closure to this crazy storyline. And honestly, I think that the fans will be satisfied.
PF: I hope the young Black girls seeing [her] will know that you can be in spaces that you're not seen in often, and that being a nerd is okay. Erica, she's shown that she was a nerd… and if people just take out that sassy component of her, they will see that.
I hope that they don't just see her as the little sister who says “nerd” all the time; [that] they see her as someone who has truly contributed to the show in an educated way. Her intelligence was her superpower on the show, and that's a great representation for young Black girls to see. A young, educated Black girl in a predominantly white space.
PF: Outside of the craft, I'm really into beauty and cosmetic marketing and science, and I hope to have my own skin care brand one day. I was going to school for cosmetic science to learn the science behind perfume-making so I don't just slap my name onto something; I [want to] actually know the science behind it.
And I'm currently out here in New York filming a movie called Samo Lives. It's about Jean-Michel Basquiat. It's a biopic on him, and I'm playing the little sister. It's with Kelvin Harrison Jr., so I'm really excited for that, and I can't wait for you all to see it. If you're into art and great writing, this is the project you are going to be into.
PF: I would definitely say the sensitivity of this character. I played a little sister before, and she wasn't as sensitive, but in this situation, Jeanine, she's sensitive. This film is very emotional…. She's softer. I'm excited to tap into her more. My first day is tomorrow.
PF: I'm excited. It is also the '80s, but it's a different... It's New York '80s. It's a different type of '80s. [Laughs.] Like, this ain't Hawkins!
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
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