Meet the dynamic duo shaking up P-Valley season 2

The Pynk and P-Valley are not ready!

Sun's out, fun's out! EW's 2022 Summer Preview has dozens of exclusive looks at the most anticipated TV shows, movies, books, and music of entertainment's hottest season. Continue to visit ew.com throughout the week for more previews of what you'll be watching, reading, and listening to in the months to come.

Meet Whisper and Roulette.

P-Valley creator Katori Hall hails the new dancers at the critically acclaimed series' Pynk strip club as "two of the best female characters I've ever come up with" — and they're about to shake things up on the Starz drama.

With a dance style patterned after Tina Turner, Roulette (Gail Bean) is an energetic dancer who is "aggressive on the pole and probably the most powerhouse dancer of them all," says Hall. On the other hand, Whisper (Psalms Salazar) is a free spirit who is "spiritual, spooky and sexy" and brings an energy to the Pynk that P-Valley viewers haven't seen before. "Whisper has a different energy where there's a softness about her, which I think isn't always displayed in the other characters," Hall explains. "Roulette is even more fiery than Mercedes."

P-Valley
Gail Bean and Psalms Salazar as Roulette and Whisper on season 2 of Starz's 'P-Valley'. Kimberly Simms/Starz

Being rule-breakers, they will keep Uncle Clifford and Mercedes on their toes. "They are willing to break the rules, especially Roulette, constantly challenging the status quo and how the club is run, which annoys Uncle Clifford because she loves her rules to be followed," says Hall. Mercedes has been trying to retire and feels like the pair of newbies are potentially eclipsing her. "For example, there's talk of these two women taking over Mercedes' set. That itself is this huge conflict that reverberates throughout the locker room onto the main floor throughout the entire season," she teases.

The role of Roulette was written just for Bean, who Hall has been trying to work with for years. After seeing her season 1 audition for P-Valley and on FX's Snowfall, she felt Bean was a perfect fit for the powerhouse character.

Hall knew they found the right actress for Whisper with Salazar, who Hall describes as a "perfect match" because of her timing and approach to Whisper's free spirit. Not to mention Salazar's own experience in a strip club. "There was this high level of authenticity that she brought to the role and an understanding of the world," Hall explains.

P-Valley
Gail Bean and Psalms Salazar as Roulette and Whisper on season 2 of Starz's 'P-Valley'. Pari Dukovic/Starz

Their partnership will turn into sisterhood, which Hall sees as a way to subvert people's expectations. "Oftentimes, when women come into the club, they are set up against each other. They are competing for attention and money at the club," Hall says. "These two women quickly see they're opposite, and they find that by working together, they can conquer the club and achieve their dreams."

Adds Hall: "The trust that we see them build is replicated on the pole, and when these two get together, you can see they're a dynamic duo, and it goes from the pole to the locker to the outside."

P-Valley Season 2
Gail Bean on season 2 of 'P-Valley'. Jessica Miglio/Starz
P-Valley Season 2
Psalms Salazar on season 2 of 'P-Valley'. Kimberly Simms/Starz

Roulette and Whisper won't be the only new blood in P-Valley season 2. Miracle Watts joins as dancer-turned-bartender Big Bone; Shamika Cotton has been cast as Farrah, the wife of one of Mercedes' clients who challenges her to define what her dreams are; and John Clarence Stewart will play Big Teak, who has a past with Lil' Murda. "The journey [Big Teak] goes on as a brother who is coming out of jail and trying to rebuild his life in the midst of a world that's upending is very heartbreaking," Hall says about the character. While the newcomers are intentionally designed to be different from those already there, all of P-Valley's characters have a "certain level of grit and hustle" because it's what they need to survive in the world they're in.

Now that you know all about the newcomers, check 'em out in action in the new trailer, below.

P-Valley season 2 premieres June 3 on Starz.

Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.

Related content: