Priah Ferguson recently sat in a Pittsburgh hotel conference room to do publicity for season three of Netflix’s retro-spooky series, “Stranger Things.”
The young actress plays Erica, the smart-mouthed little sister to Lucas, a member of the original gang in Hawkins, Ind. Her scene-stealing habit as a guest star last season elevated Priah to the regular cast on the show. All eight new episodes stream July 4.
At some point in the interview, her age came up. Fifteen, right?
“I am TWELVE!” she said, shrieking with laughter. “I’m turning 13 in October.”
That made this whole sit-down even more impressive. Priah is precocious and mature but without a hint of being off-putting. She spoke of working with Tiffany Haddish in “The Oath” without sounding like a name-dropper because to her, the experience was both wonderful, yet nonetheless her job.
“I have an old soul, yeah,” Priah said, matter-of-factly.
Wearing a bright red “Hawkins Tigers” T-shirt, Priah talked about the importance of separating her work life from hanging with friends at the public school she attends in Atlanta.
“At school I have friends I’m close to… but a lot of kids are just realizing who I am because I don’t talk about it at school,” she said. “It’s a break from acting. That kind of keeps me grounded. It can get catty at school.”
Priah said she enjoys the media attention, through interviews and appearances at conventions and that it’s part of her nature to engage.
“When I was younger, I had what I always say is an ‘outgoing’ personality. We’d be going to the store and my mom could be getting eggs or pancake mix, and I’d just make conversation with somebody.
“It doesn’t matter who you are, I’d just make conversation like, ‘Oh I like your hair.’”
In elementary school, she watched movies such as “Crooklyn” and “Daddy’s Little Girls” and saw child performers who inspired her to try acting.
What followed was a string of local classes, workshops and stage work. Local representation led to her landing an agent in Los Angeles, and soon Priah was doing short film and “cool” commercials, including one for IKEA.
Since Hollywood has gone to Georgia in recent years, Priah’s growing up there helped. “Stranger Things” has shot three seasons there, and Donald Glover’s Peabody Award-winning “Atlanta” films there as well. Three years ago, Priah did a guest role on his show.
Her mother, who grew up in Atlanta, said she remembers going to camp at the swimming pool complex where big, stranger things are happening on the Netflix series.
On “Stranger Things,” Erica is an outspoken brat — a lover of maple syrup and free ice cream samples at the mall — but she’s also brave and resourceful.
“There is a little bit of Erica in me, but my sister [Jayda], she’s more Erica-like. She’s always sassing me off. So I take from her and put it in my work.
“I have my moments when I get on my mom’s nerves, my little sister’s nerves. … I have my ‘Stop, Pri, yeah’ moments.”
Her schedule in Pittsburgh included throwing out the first pitch at a Pirates game, where she chatted with the Parrot. And although Priah will spend some of the summer working on her craft, there’s another big event looming.
“I will be in seventh grade, yes!” she said. “They say seventh grade is the best year.”
Sounds like it’s been a pretty good one already.
Maria Sciullo: msciullo@post-gazette.com or @MariaSciulloPG.
First Published: July 3, 2019, 12:00 p.m.
