Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor didn’t intend to find her niche as an actor starring inmoviesand TV shows about race.
“I didn’t seek them out,” Ellis-Taylor told Business Insider of these types of roles.
If speaking up has given her a reputation, she’s glad for it.
How do you navigate that?
Does it ever weigh on you?
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor:Sometimes it does.
I find myself having to be really vigilant about how I respond to things.
Because there is a burden on Black makers to provide hope for people.
We’re talking about a film here.
Why is that uniquely the responsibility of aBlack filmmakerto provide hope?
So that can weigh on me, because that’s time that I could be answering something else.
Much has been made of “Origin” beingsnubbed during awards seasonlast year andwhy that might have happened.
Is that something that still bothers you?
Yeah, it does.
A lot of what hurt me is that I know what Ava wanted.
And the reality is, films getting awards, it helps it saturate culture.
Not just culture, it helps it saturate our political discussions.
She wanted “Origin” to be at the center of that.
Not having that kind of result was very disappointing.
Not just disappointing for everyone who worked on the film, but I feel that I’m personally disappointed.
It still stings a bit, yeah.
Why was it important to you to speak out on that?
She was writing herself into existence when she wrote “The Color Purple.”
That’s homophobia at its core, and I’m tired of that.
And that is why I have to say that.
And I’m queer.
I’m a queer woman.
I’m bi, so when I read"The Color Purple,“I saw myself.
I feel like we’re quiet and silent aboutqueer erasure.
I just won’t do that.
I think that would be beneficial.
I believe thatqueer people should play queer people.
I think too often we have straight people playing queer characters.
And I think that queer people can play themselves and should play themselves.
Did anyone give you a hard time for being critical of the movie after having been in it?
Nobody said anything to me.
I don’t think people really attempt to say anything to me too much.
It wasn’t about its artistic merits.
It wasn’t about Ms. Winfrey personally or how I felt I was treated on the film.
It didn’t have anything to do with that.
It’s not going to be different until we do.
In 2024, you had four films released.
Well, I think 2022 and the end of 2021, yeah, things changed.
Things changed quite a bit.
I was doing some stuff that I had never really done before.
As far as the types of roles, I think it’s consistent.
I don’t have people that are knocking on my door throwing scripts at me.
What types of projects are you writing now?
Well, one of the things is writing a story about Rosetta Tharpe.
It feels like every other year there’s a story aboutElvisorBob Dylan.
That’s the story of American music, and I think it’s fascinating.
She’s a woman.
She’s a queer woman.
She had a relationship with the woman who she was singing with.
It is a fascinating story.
I want to see that onscreen.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
“Nickel Boys” is now in theaters.
