Priah Ferguson Reveals Her "First" Everything!

My first time I got recognized was in LA.

It was in a Uber and the man was dressed

in a Spider-Man costume cause he did birthday parties.

And he was like, You look familiar.

And I was like, Oh okay.

My mom was like,

Well she's actually on a Netflix show

called 'Stranger Things.'

I was just hoping he didn't crash the car.

Hi, my name is Priah Ferguson

and I'm here with Teen Vogue for Firsts.

[laid back pop music]

I think when I met Kelly Rowland I was pretty starstruck.

And also Leonardo DiCaprio.

I think I was starstruck after the fact I found out

that that was Leonardo DiCaprio.

I was with Millie and Noah at a Netflix party,

and I was just following them around.

They were talking to Leonardo DiCaprio,

who I didn't know was Leonardo DiCaprio at the time.

And I think he said something to me

and I was like, Oh okay cool.

And then we walked back into where the party

actually was, on the dance floor,

and they were like,

Do you know who that was?

And I was like, No, who was that?

And they were like, It's Leonardo DiCaprio.

And I was like, What? He looks so different.

Oh my gosh, that's Leonardo DiCaprio.

I didn't know it was him

I was talking to until after I talked to him.

So I was coming home from school

getting off the bus and the first thing that I did,

I found out the news and I was jumping up and down.

I was super excited.

I think my mom was making dinner that night

so it was a pretty big day.

Cause my mom doesn't like to cook for real.

I'm the cooker in the house.

I enjoy cooking.

So that's who I remember that day.

So she was in a pretty good mood

to cook some Chicken Alfredo that night.

The scene that I read in the audition,

my name was Tina in the script

and I think Lucas's name was still the same, I believe.

I was sitting on the couch watching TV,

and he came in and I said something smart.

It was kind of short, but that's what it was.

I was a little scared after watching Stranger Things

for the first time.

I ended up watching it when I booked the show.

A little bit.

I watched some parts just to get familiar with it,

and I also watched some movies like ET, The Goonies,

just to get familiar with the eighties and stuff like that.

[boys humming Ghostbusters theme song]

♪ Who ya gonna call ♪

Finn.

Finn Wolfhard was the first famous person

that has ever followed me.

Mindless Behavior.

That was my first crush.

It was a pretty short day for me actually.

I thought it would be pretty long, but it wasn't.

That was the day I first met Caleb and I met his family.

They were super sweet and I kind of did my scenes

and it took about maybe no more than two hours

and that was the end of it.

My name, it's the first thing people get wrong about me.

They call me Pariah, Prya,

just everything under the sun but Priah.

Check myself out in the mirror and do my hair,

my facial routine.

First scene that I filmed for Stranger Things.

It was the scene in season two when I was first introduced,

and I was like, Nerd.

And mouthing Nerd. when Lucas

was taking his Ghostbusters picture.

Atlanta with Donald Glover.

That was my first film set I ever worked on.

The previous sets I've worked on were kind of short films.

So when I found out we got to have,

I stayed in like a little trailer.

It was little, but I was like,

Oh shoot, this is nice.

You know?

So it was kinda surreal.

Where do you get this from?

My friend Alex.

I better not catch you

playing with no toy guns again, boy.

He was playing like he was Paper Boy.

I don't care Angel, we don't play like that.

Come on.

I got turned down for so many.

That role that I got turned down from,

that character had a lot of range

and I really, really wanted it.

And I remember going to the audition

and the lady, the casting director,

she was a big casting director at the time.

She looked me in my face and she was just kind of like,

You weren't good enough.

And I was just kind of like, Dang.

I was sensitive.

But I ran out the casting room and I was like,

I don't think I did well.

I started crying and stuff but it wasn't made for me.

My first time I got recognized was in LA.

It was in a Uber and the man was dressed

in a Spider-Man costume cause he did birthday parties.

And he was like, You look familiar.

And I was like, Oh okay.

My mom was like,

Well she's actually on a Netflix show

called 'Stranger Things.'

Cause she was super excited around the time

and then he was like, Oh wow. OMG.

I was just hoping he didn't crash the car.

I would definitely say getting invited to the Emmys.

That was my first dream come true.

It would be when I started driving in May.

Taking Driver's Ed, I was like,

Oh this is cool.

I don't feel like, I can not wait

to get my driver's license.

When I got my permit was pretty surreal for me.

First time I heard about the Curse of Bridge Hollow?

Around August when school started,

that's when I first heard about it.

Last year.

I think I went in like a Zoom call

so they could see my acting,

and you know, just see me in person.

But they did really want me.

I was requested.

But after that they kind of knew they wanted me

and kind of, I guess just went with their gut.

And that the Halloween decorations are coming to life.

Come on, Syd.

That's just not something that happens.

I like this project because one,

I love Marlon Wayne's role.

I knew the kind of project this is gonna be

and I automatically fell in love with it and the storyline.

Sydney had a lot of range, and the movie had a lot of range.

It was not only horror but, it was also kind of funny

and showed the ups and downs of a relationship

that a father and daughter goes through.

The first time I met Kelly Rowland was on set.

Right in the middle when we were filming.

Like, November.

She was really cool.

I remember one of my mom's friends, she makes cheesecakes,

and I know Kelly Rowland likes her cakes,

she likes her pastries.

So I gave her a thing of cheesecakes and she loved them.

First song I was ever obsessed with was

Where the Boys At? by OMG Girlz.

The skeleton scene where they were breaking the windows

and trying to attack us.

If we can't stop Jack by midnight-

Then every day will be Halloween.

[Howard screams]

[Sydney] You know what you could do

to something that's real?

[shotgun fires]

Booyah!

You can kick it's ass.

The first time I realized I wanted to become an actress

was when I was younger.

I think I was five watching Daddy's Little Girls,

and I was kind of confused on how they got

into the TV and I thought it was super cool.

Then my mom broke down the process of acting

and what it is and once I heard that I kind of

I fell in love with it and I wanted to be in a TV, so.

I did do a lot of small acting roles,

a lot of dramatic short films.

I didn't really do too much comedy

until I booked Erica on Stranger Things.

I also did a few local plays

but I knew I didn't really wanna do theater.

I knew that being on film was my thing,

so I kind of tried to move towards that direction.

I am inspired by Zendaya

just because she has really nice style,

but she's also elevated from Disney

and she's in a whole new career.

But I loved her in Disney,

so it was just so cool seeing her go from

Shake It Up to Euphoria.

And I was like, Wow.

Like I really kind of grew up with her on TV in a way

cause Shake It Up was my jam.

Now I still don't really feel like I technically made it

but I guess now that I'm getting recognized more

I guess that's kind of the first time where I feel like,

Oh I have an image that I kind of have to protect.

It was definitely a time on this journey where I felt

like I didn't wanna do this anymore,

but it wasn't that I wanted to drop the industry completely.

I kind of wanted to move into more of a different direction,

like directing and producing, and be more behind the camera

than in front of the camera.

And also I want to move towards the fashion career,

and lifestyle like that.

So an advice that has kind of stuck with me?

If you have a good team, it makes everything easier.

And that's what kind of helps you get far, is your team.