Rainbow Crew is an ongoing interview series which celebrates the best LGBTQ+ representation on TV. Each instalment showcases talent working on both sides of the camera, including queer creatives and allies to the community.
Today we're speaking to actor Nicco Annan about his scene-stealing role in P-Valley.
"Was it different for you?" Before we ask our first question, Nicco kicks things off with one of his own, channeling the energy of his role on P-Valley in the best way possible.
Like Hustlers, Katori Hall's show revolves around the lives of strippers at work, but as Nicco hints here, P-Valley is so much more than that. Themes of sisterhood and sex work are explored through the experiences of Black women and Black queer men living their truth in the face of relentless racism, misogyny and queerphobia.
Within this modern-day neon noir, Nicco's character Uncle Clifford emerges out of the smoke and glitter like a fairy godmother whose face has been beat for the gods. From the top of her fluorescent wigs to the bottom of her stiletto heels, Uncle Clifford pulls focus throughout, subverting stereotypes with sickening looks and her unapologetic defiance.
The same can be said of P-Valley itself, a show which is "different" in lots of ways, and therefore demands your attention like nothing else on TV right now. We sat down with Nicco to discuss why, exploring broader issues of Black and queer representation along the way.
To start with, could you please introduce your wonderful character, Uncle Clifford, to our readers?
I am Nicco, and I play Uncle Clifford, the owner of The Pynk. This is pink, but my club is The Pynk – P-Y-N-K. It’s a wonderful, wonderful place down in Mississippi, here in the United States, in what they call the Dirty Delta.
And Uncle Clifford is a beautiful, black, non-binary queer who identifies with the pronoun "she". She’s very gender fluid.
You clearly have so much fun playing Uncle Clifford. Could you talk about how this role has changed in the ten years that have passed since you first starred in the P-Valley play?
The character has definitely evolved from when we were doing the play. A lot of that has to do with Katori Hall, the creator and showrunner and the writer of the show – and we had other writers in the writers’ room too.
With the evolution of Uncle Clifford – it’s been a part of society evolving, to be honest with you, with the visibility of LGBTQ+ characters and people in the world. Not even just what you see in cinema, on big screens and little screens, but who you see at the grocery store, and who you see when you go to the mall.
I think the visibility of real people, with that level of humanity, has definitely affected the evolution of Uncle Clifford, and all that she can be in 2020.
How much input did you have in shaping Uncle Clifford for the show?
A lot. Katori Hall is very specific. She is a brilliant woman. She is a kind and compassionate woman. Katori says she writes for place more so than necessarily for race.
So being down in the South, there’s a lot of the specificity of the culture that she comes with – the specificity of the language, the intention behind the stories, and the arcs of the characters. Katori has all of that in her mind, and in her soul.
It's a very collaborative environment, also with Uncle Clifford’s looks, with her wigs, with her wardrobe. It is a collaboration with the costume designer, Rita McGhee, her assistant Alita, and the entire team.
I was very specific on what I wanted, and what I did not want. I found that it was helpful to be able to show the designers things that I did not want, just as much as the things that I wanted to see. Because I wanted to really get to the humanity of Uncle Clifford. I wanted her to be reachable, and for people to understand: "Oh, she’s not a drag queen. Oh, she’s not trans." You know? And explore what gender fluidity looks like, or could look.
The looks are incredible. There are so many amazing wigs, and the makeup is gorgeous. How long did it take to get ready for each scene?
You want the real answer?
Sure, yeah!
[laughs] OK, I’ll give you the real answer. It took me, every day, maybe about 45 minutes to an hour to get ready.
One of the things that I think is so remarkable about Uncle Clifford is… Like I said, she’s not a drag queen, so I didn’t have to do any drag makeup, you know? There’s a reason. There’s a story behind why she still has her beard.
If you’re living in this rural South area and you’re running a strip club, yet you have the courage to be your full, complete self in this manner? There still has to be a level of security. It was a statement about not trying me. Don’t look at femininity as a sign of weakness. Femininity is total strength. And I think that to embrace that level of femininity, it was empowering.
When it comes to changing Uncle Clifford’s hair, that’s a part of the culture. That’s a part of the culture when it comes to African and African-American women. It’s a privilege to be able to say, "This is how I feel today. I feel like straightening my hair. I feel like braiding my hair. I’m feeling fun and I want to add some sparkles, or some type of adornments, or braids, or yarn – whatever the case may be."
So I definitely wanted to embrace that, and I think all the characters, especially the women in the show, they really embrace that aspect. But even the men, if you pay close attention to the haircut, and the styles, it’s just another level of expression.
And in a world where you can be so oppressed, you can find a way to make your voice heard in many different ways.
It’s so great to see a queer character with such power and confidence on screen. I feel it breaks down a lot of misconceptions and stereotypes, like you said.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s good. I’m glad about that.
That 100% comes through. I think the key to that, with your character in particular, is the relationship Uncle Clifford shares with Lil Murda. Can you tell me what that was like to portray and explore?
In the first episode... to meet Lil Murda the way that Uncle Clifford does – it kind of takes her a little aback. She’s like, "Oh. Well, this is what’s going on." [laughs]
And working with [J. Alphonse Nicholson] was absolutely wonderful. That’s my brother. He is an amazing actor. We actually had a lot of conversations in the beginning, when we shot the pilot, just talking about what this journey is, and getting to know one another, and our intensions behind taking the roles and what we wanted to do.
He’s an ally to the community, you know? He wanted to portray certain things. And I respect that. And I wanted to portray certain things, and really highlight, again, our humanity, and the authenticity of it, and the danger, and the excitement, and just the everything.
Let’s put it that way – the everything. Everything that you feel when you go out on whatever romantic excursions you may have.
For network TV, P-Valley can be quite risqué, especially when it comes to the dancing and nudity. Was anything missing from the final edit that you think should have been included?
Nope. Not one thing. We have so many people behind the scenes that represent a broad spectrum of humanity. We have a lot of women. This is the most women-centred production that I have worked on, and that was refreshing in and of itself. One of our co-executive producers, Patrik-Ian Polk, is known in the world of the LGBTQ+ community as a writer and creator who is brilliant in all that he brings to the table.
So I didn’t feel like I had to fight all the fights myself. I felt like there were people in place on the production level who were able to push for certain things, and advocate for certain things, that normally, on network television, I wouldn’t have been able to do. Or it would have been a harder fight, I should say.
P-Valley is very open in how it explores the intersection between African-American culture and queerness. What does it mean for you personally to star in such a ground-breaking show like this, right now, in this time?
I think, David, what it means to me, is everything. It means everything. That intersection between my community as an African-American, and my community as a gay man, it was actually seamless to me.
There are a lot of people who have experienced traumatic things in their lives because of their sexuality or because of their identity for sure. And I think that all of those stories are valid. But I also think it is extremely valid and necessary for people to understand that there are Black families that don’t throw their kids away because they’re gay. There are Black men who are heterosexual that can love a gay man or a non-binary person.
I think that a lot of people are more accepting than we give them credit for. I think that being able to see those stories on a large platform is a part of the change, and a part of the revolution that’s happening right now, you know?
We are in the midst of this whole quarantine and COVID-19. To be able to be in a space where you are in your home, and you are restricted – or certainly, privileges have been taken away from you – so you’re kind of forced to look inside your thoughts, and to look at how you move and how you think...
This show – that, in and of itself, is a revolution, right? And I think P-Valley adds to all that. I think the show is a part of that revolution.
P-Valley represents such a great step forward for queer representation, but what can the industry as a whole do to become more inclusive?
I think it’s no different than what you hear people say every day. I think it’s about listening. But in terms of having representation on multiple layers... If you are making a movie, are you employing people and empowering them with the opportunity to tell the truth, to tell different aspects of the story?
I think without that, you’re in some place… you’re in the Ice Age [laughs]. You know what I mean? The world is moving along, and you want to be a part of that. You don’t want to be left behind.
P-Valley is available in the UK through Starz on Amazon Prime.
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After teaching in England and South Korea, David turned to writing in Germany, where he covered everything from superhero movies to the Berlin Film Festival.
In 2019, David moved to London to join Digital Spy, where he could indulge his love of comics, horror and LGBTQ+ storytelling as Deputy TV Editor, and later, as Acting TV Editor.
David has spoken on numerous LGBTQ+ panels to discuss queer representation and in 2020, he created the Rainbow Crew interview series, which celebrates LGBTQ+ talent on both sides of the camera via video content and longform reads.
Beyond that, David has interviewed all your faves, including Henry Cavill, Pedro Pascal, Olivia Colman, Patrick Stewart, Ncuti Gatwa, Jamie Dornan, Regina King, and more — not to mention countless Drag Race legends.
As a freelance entertainment journalist, David has bylines across a range of publications including Empire Online, Radio Times, INTO, Highsnobiety, Den of Geek, The Digital Fix and Sight & Sound.
