Priah Ferguson: the actress who plays Erica Sinclair in Stranger Things
Actresses · Priah Ferguson · Erica Sinclair
Priah Ferguson was hired for a few lines in season 2: Lucas's little sister who mocks him over the walkie-talkie. She stole every scene, and the Duffers made her a main character. Portrait of the youngest star in the cast.
The essentials
- Born: October 1, 2006, Atlanta, Georgia
- Role: Erica Sinclair, seasons 2 to 5
- Status: guest in Season 2, series regular from Season 3
- Elsewhere: The Curse of Bridge Hollow, The Oath
Contents
Priah Ferguson, an Atlanta kid cast on the spot
Priah Ferguson was born in Atlanta, where the show is filmed, and starts with local roles: Donald Glover's Atlanta, the historical series Mercy Street, short films. She is ten when she auditions for Erica, in 2016. The role is written for two scenes: Lucas's little sister who plays with her dolls and harasses him by radio. She turns it into a number.
The Duffers said they rewrote Season 3 to give her a whole plot: Erica becomes the child who goes through the mall air ducts and infiltrates a Russian base, in exchange for free ice cream for life.
The Erica kids' T-shirt, for little sisters.
In the shopKids' Christmas in Hawkins T-shirt24,90 €See the product
Erica, the sharpest voice in Hawkins
Erica Sinclair is the character who says what the audience thinks: that Steve looks ridiculous in uniform, that Dustin is a nerd, that “capitalism” justifies her pay in ice cream. Priah Ferguson plays that with a nerve that made her, at twelve, one of Season 3's breakouts. Season 4 brings her into the Hellfire Club, as Lady Applejack, and onto the team that faces Vecna.
In season 5, Erica is a teenager under quarantine, and the character keeps exactly the same tone: the one who does not back down.
“You can't spell America without Erica”The Season 3 line, when Erica takes the duct mission, became one of the most quoted in the show and ended up on T-shirts, mugs and convention signs.
Erica, season by season
| Season | What Erica lives through |
|---|---|
| 2 | Mocks Lucas, demands the walkie-talkie, discovers Lucas's dolls |
| 3 | Infiltrates the Russian base through the ducts, helps Dustin, Steve, and Robin |
| 4 | Joins the Hellfire Club, kills Vecna at the table, helps with Max's rescue |
| 5 | Goes through the quarantine with the party, helps Dustin write his speech |
Outside Hawkins
| Year | Project | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Atlanta (series) | A little girl |
| 2018 | The Oath | A supporting role |
| 2022 | The Curse of Bridge Hollow | Sydney, opposite Marlon Wayans |
| 2023 | My Dad the Bounty Hunter (animation) | Lisa's voice |
The Curse of Bridge Hollow, a Halloween comedy with Marlon Wayans, gives her her first lead role in film. She keeps studying in parallel and has said she wants to keep acting without rushing, like most of the children in the cast.
Markers
| Year | Step |
|---|---|
| 2006 | Birth in Atlanta |
| 2016 | Erica's casting, for two scenes |
| 2019 | Main character from the third season on, the mall ducts |
| 2022 | Season 4: Lady Applejack; The Curse of Bridge Hollow |
| 2025 | End of the show |
The Erica figure, ice cream in hand.
In the shopLego Erica Sinclair mini figure14,90 €See the product
What you know less about her
Priah Ferguson has a younger sister, and it was watching two films, Spike Lee's Crooklyn and Daddy's Little Girls, that made her want to act. She started in 2015 in shorts filmed in Atlanta, then on television in 2016. She finished high school in 2025, in Fayetteville, Georgia, where she was part of the dance team, while filming the last season. As early as 2015, she was a spokesperson for an Atlanta charity.
In 2019, she threw the first pitch of a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Diego Padres, and in 2022 she led a campaign for secondhand fashion. Like Caleb McLaughlin, she grew up on screen from ten to eighteen.
Erica in 1987: the pie, the tunnels, the base
The last season gives Erica her strongest scenes. She is the one Lucas talks, reluctantly, into helping with the Turnbow trap: she brings a spiked pie to the family of her former best friend Tina, who refuses to eat it, and has to inject the sedative by hand. The scene went viral; Priah Ferguson described it as funny to shoot but hard to play, because Erica betrays a friend to save her family.
She then guides two children in the tunnels during the raid, proposes recruiting Mr. Clarke to build a tracker, and opens the military base with him to let Murray's truck through in the finale. Season 4 had already given her Lady Applejack, the level 14 thief who kills Vecna at the Hellfire Club table.
Five Erica scenes to rewatch
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The walkie-talkie, 1984
She teases Lucas on his radio and discovers his figures: two scenes, and a character is born.
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The ducts, 1985
"You can't spell America without Erica": she crawls through the mall ducts.
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The truth serum, 1985
She leads the interrogations of drugged Steve and Robin, with the composure of an adult.
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Lady Applejack, 1986
She deals the fatal blow to Vecna, in the campaign, the evening he starts killing.
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The pie, 1987
Facing Tina, syringe in hand.
Erica and Lucas: the siblings of the show
Erica is the only little sister in the group to become a character in her own right, and the relationship with Lucas is the thread that holds her. She starts by mocking him, his figures and his walkie-talkie, in 1984; she replaces him at the Hellfire Club table in 1986, when he chooses basketball; and in 1987, it is he who comes to get her, reluctantly, for the Turnbow trap. Priah Ferguson and Caleb McLaughlin have said they built that complicity over the seasons, as their shared scenes multiplied.
In the Creel house, in 1986, Erica watches Lucas's fight against Jason while Max dies; in 1987, she guides two children in the tunnels while her brother guides others. The show ended up making the Sinclairs the most tightly knit family in Hawkins after the Byers.
The Scoops Ahoy keychain, ice-cream wages not included.
In the shopKids' Hawkins Is Cursed hoodie61,90 €See the product
TakeawayBorn in 2006 in Atlanta, cast at ten for two scenes. Erica Sinclair, a series regular from Season 3. The line “You can't spell America without Erica” became cult. First film role in The Curse of Bridge Hollow.
Frequently asked questions
Who plays Erica in Stranger Things?
Priah Ferguson, American actress born in 2006 in Atlanta, from season 2 on, a main character from season 3 on.
How old is Priah Ferguson?
She was born on October 1, 2006: ten at the casting, twelve in season 3, eighteen at the end of the show.
Does Erica have scenes in season 5?
Yes, she is part of the party under quarantine and stays through the epilogue.
In which films does Priah Ferguson act?
The Oath, The Curse of Bridge Hollow, and the animated series My Dad the Bounty Hunter, where she voices Lisa.
What is the pie scene?
In episode 3 of season 5, Erica puts the Turnbow family to sleep with a spiked pie; her former friend Tina refuses to eat it, and Erica has to inject her with the sedative. The scene went viral.
Did Priah Ferguson finish high school?
Yes, in 2025, in Fayetteville, Georgia, where she was part of the dance team, in parallel with filming the last season.
Is Erica part of the Hellfire Club?
Yes, from season 4 on, under the name Lady Applejack, a level 14 thief who replaces Lucas at the table and lands the killing blow on Vecna in the campaign.