LOS ANGELES: Brandee Evans stars as Mercedes, a veteran stripper in the Starz original series P-Valley. Mercedes is ready to leave the club for bigger dreams, but drama keeps her dancing for now. One of her dramas involves her mother, to which Evans can relate.
“My mom and I actually had a toxic relationship growing up just like Patrice and Mercedes in P-Valley,” Evans told in a recent phone interview.
Patrice (Harriett D. Foy) is Mercedes’ mother, a devout churchgoer who will accept Mercedes’ donations to the church while condemning the strip club that nets that money.
Evans made up with her mother by 2013 and has cared for her since 2016 when she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Before that, Evans forged her own path in dance in the face of her mother’s objections.
Evans attended the University of Miami on a dance scholarship, but she earned an English degree because her mother thought that would provide more financial stability. Her family could not afford tuition, so Evans could not have obtained a degree without financial aid.