'P-Valley' Creator Talks Character Development

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Katori Hall Talks About Including Real Events In P-Valley Plot

BOSSIP’s Sr. Content Director Janeé Bolden chatted with P-Valley executive producer Katori Hall ahead of the Season 2 premiere, asking about her decision to include many of the actual events of 2020 in the show’s plot.

“I feel like our characters, even though they are fictional, people feel like they are real,” Katori Hall told BOSSIP. “They’re so relatable. The characters in the Pynk have really tattooed themselves on people’s minds and hearts. I felt like as a Black writer, as a woman, how could I not implement elements of our times? Storytelling is a way for us to figure out ourselves, watch ourselves and gather as a community to talk about it. I have to do it because this moment that we’re living in — the COVID of it all — the racial injustice of it all, we can use this story to figure out solutions moving forward and we can use this story to mirror what everyone is going through.”

Katori Hall Talks Character Growth Of Mississippi And Woddy

Hall also spoke about how some of the characters from Season 1 will see their roles expand sizably in the new season, similar to how Shannon Thornton’s screen time grew each episode following her modest introduction to the series.

“In the Katori Hall universe there are no small roles,” Hall said. “You may have one line one episode and then you have a whole season arc the next season. “That’s what happened with Miss Mississippi. In the pilot, she had like one line, but by the end of the season she was practically taking over the Pynk. So for Season 2 I really wanted to use the rest of the cast for more than just supporting the main characters.”

Hall gave a little hint about how this will happen with Lil Murder’s manager Woddy, who sees his small role as a funeral home director expanded greatly in the new season.

“You think like, ‘oh we gon’ see him every once in awhile,’ and by Episode Five you’re like, ‘Ooh chile, Woddy might need to be getting some panties!’