Cast of Starz series 'P-Vally'

Shannon Thornton | Biography 2021

She won the 'Gracie Allen Award' for 'Actress in a Supporting role - Drama' in 2021.

• By Reena Chikanbanjar
• Update : July 20, 2021

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Shannon Thornton is an American actress best known for playing Miss Mississippi in the Starz crime-drama series, 'P-Valley.' 

Who is Shannon Thornton?

Shannon Thornton made her first television appearance in 2010 on CBS' Blue Bloods. After six years, Thornton had appeared in an episode of NBC's Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 2016. She also played in an episode of ABC drama Time After Time before scoring recurring roles in television series such as Rise and Power. In 2020, she started appearing in Starz's hit series P-Valley, as a regular cast.

Early Bio

Shannon Thornton was born on 24 July 1987 in Hartford, Connecticut. Growing up, the legendary Michael Jackson influenced her to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. For the same purpose, she moved to New York.

Early Career

Thornton began her career as a model. She worked in advertising campaigns for several brands. She had also appeared in magazines like Essence and Black Hair Magazine.

Acting Career

Thornton made her professional acting debut in 2010, playing Sara in an episode titled 'Smack Attack' of the CBS police procedural drama series Blue Bloods. However, she did not appear on television for the next several years. In 2016, she appeared on television for the second time in the NBC crime-drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, playing Ashley S. in the episode titled 'Assaulting Reality.' The following year, Thornton appeared as Kerry Ann Riley in the pilot episode of the sci-fi drama series Time After Time, which premiered on 5 March 2017 on ABC. 

In 2018, Thornton scored a recurring role of Yvonne Thorne in the NBC drama series Rise. She appeared in four of ten episodes of the series. Thornton then landed her first significant role in Starz's award-winning hit crime-drama television series Power in 2018. She portrayed the role of Quinn Phillips in three episodes of Power. That year, she also appeared in an episode titled 'Cops and Robbers' of CBS crime-drama series FBI, playing Jill Frey. 

Thornton had also appeared in the 2018 Netflix movie The Week of, portraying the role of Daray, girlfriend of Kirby Cordice (played by Chris Rock).

'P-Valley'

Following several minor roles in television series, Thornton secured a breakout role in Starz's another crime-drama series P-Valley, an adaptation of Katori Hall's play titled 'Pussy Valley.' The series unfolds the lives of strip dancers who work at a fictional strip club called The Pynk in the Dirty Delta of Mississippi. 

In the series, Thornton starred in the role of a sweet, good-looking, and mild-mannered stripper Keyshawn, a.k.a. Miss Mississippi. She was initially worried about accepting the role in the series because of the stigma behind the word 'stripper,' and the fear of being judged. However, she took up the role, ignoring what other people would think about her. Ultimately, being a part of the series, she learned to feel the power of women's sexuality and the role she plays. 

In an interview with Essence in August 2020, she said, "One of the biggest things I learned from being on this set about womanhood is how beautiful and empowering it is to own your sexuality and how it's okay to be sexy. We're playing sex workers and there's this huge stigma behind the word stripper, when in reality this is labor for these women. It's a job just like any other job."

Along with her fellow cast members, Thornton took to dance class for some months to prepare for the pole dancer role. The series premiered on 12 July 2020. By July 2020, with only three episodes being aired, the series was ranked at number one among 2020's new premium series with African American viewers, and it was ranked fifth place among all premium series. The first season of the series ran for eight episodes until it ended on 6 September 2020. 

'P-Valley' Season 2

With an increasing viewership of the series, P-Valley was renewed for Season 2 on 27 July 2020. The cable network renewed the series just after witnessing the success of the first three episodes from Season 1. On 4 March 2021, P-Valley's Twitter account put out a casting call for Season 2.

Later Works

In 2020, Thornton started appearing in the role of Mia in the television drama series Dynasty. Premiered on 11 October 2017, Dynasty is based on the 1982s series of the same name. The series also won the 'People's Choice Award' for 'Favorite Revival Show' in 2018. Thornton will be appearing in the upcoming television mini-series Inventing Anna, post-production of which is going on.

Awards and Nominations

For her outstanding role on P-Valley, Thornton won the 'Gracie Allen Award' for 'Actress in a Supporting role - Drama' in 2021.

Arts and Paintings

Thornton is also an artist. She had done paintings of celebrities and athletes like Michael Jackson and Odell Backhan Jr.