Elarica Johnson made a name for herself as Autumn Night on the Starz hit show P-Valley. Her character was a driving force behind the first two seasons of the show and helped add to the show’s appeal, as people tried to figure out who she was and what she was hiding. It helped make Johnson a household name, along with J. Alphonse Nichols and Nicco Annan.
After an extensive two-year hiatus between seasons, fans were eager to see Autumn’s glorious return to The Pynk and our small screens. She delivered and, to the shock of man fans, casually walked right out of the show when season 2 came to a draw. Show running Katori Hall revealed that she and Elarica worked closely on giving Autumn Night a proper send-off that still left the door open for her to return if she wanted to. “Autumn’s journey felt like it was coming to an end. She has done what she needed to do, and it was time for her to move on.”
They gave Autumn a lot to unpack if she ever came back too. That includes her pregnancy, where she went, and what she did with the money she took from Uncle Clifford. However, we now have a clear picture of where Elarica Johnson is going. The London-born actress is heading straight to the big screen in Sexual Healing, a biopic about R&B legend Marvin Gaye. According to IMDB, Sexual Healing will specifically focus on the later years of Marvin’s life, living in Europe and recovering from drug addiction. It was during these years that he’d write his signature record, which the movie is titled after.
Jesse L. Martin will be starring as Marvin, while Elerica Johnson joins the cast as Janis Gaye, Marvin’s second wife. Marvin and Janis would begin dating when she was only 17 years old. Marvin was 17 years her senior. Janis has been vocal about how abusive their relationship was and how Mavin made her participate in orgies and do things against her will. She was so fed up with him that she would eventually cheat on him with Frankie Beverly and Teddy Pendergrass. Needless to say, the role is a juice one for Elarica.
IMDB is reporting that Elarica is credited by her birthname, Elarica Gallacher, which she was credited by in her debut film, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, back in 2009. Sexual Healing initially got some pushback from Marvin Gaye’s estate back in 2016. His son reportedly told TMZ the family was not backing the movie whats so ever. It is unclear what has changed since then or if they are on board now. He had seen test footage of it at the time and said it “got a lot of problems with what he’s seen of the film. He says it’s untrue, exploitative, with a ton of holes, and worst of all … doesn’t ‘hold the vibe of my father.'” Hopefully, Elarica and the cast can bring it to life in a way that would please the Gaye estate.
