Now she’s joined filmmakerRaMell Ross' critically acclaimed narrative feature debut,Nickel Boys.
I thought everyone did such a great job.
AUNJANUE ELLIS-TAYLOR: Thank you.
Image via NBC
I do like throwing a curveball at the beginning of interviews.
Did you have a favorite?
ELLIS-TAYLOR: [Laughs] Man, the guest spots!
Image via Amazong MGM Studios
Listen, them checks?
Out of the blue, you’ll get a residual, and your rent is paid.
Well, it was more than a guest spot, but I did a couple episodes ofTrue Blood.
Image via Amazon MGM Studios
That was really fun.
I’ve done twoLaw & Orders, and it was a dream of mine to be onLaw & Order.
I was in New York for the longest time, and I never got cast onLaw & Order.
Based on the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Colson Whitehead, Nickel Boys chronicles the powerful friendship between two young African American men navigating the harrowing trials of reform school together in Florida.
Then I left New York, and then finally got a job onLaw & Order.
For people who don’t realize, that’s like the rite of passage for people in New York.
Were you onLaw & OrderorLaw & Order: SVU?
The Way Nickel Boys Was Filmed Shook Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor at First
There is no coverage.
ELLIS-TAYLOR: Well, I didn’t hear that until I was on set watching it unfold.
So, I had no preparation for that at all.
I didn’t know that that is what he was going to do.
I read the script, but I didn’t get it.
I didn’t understand that’s what was happening.
And he said,There is no coverage.
So, yeah, that shook me a bit.
ELLIS-TAYLOR: All the time.
I just worked with a young actor, his name is Brady.
And Brady would say, Don’t look at the camera.
Brady was always looking at the dang old camera!
What day did you get used to it, or did you never get used to it?
ELLIS-TAYLOR: Well, you had to get used to it.
I read that this was a project that youreallywent after, or am I wrong about this?
ELLIS-TAYLOR: I went after RaMell.
I sawHale County[This Morning, This Evening], and I just dug that so much.
Did you see that?
I have not seen the whole movie, which I’m embarrassed to say.
ELLIS-TAYLOR: No, its okay.
There’s just too much to watch.
ELLIS-TAYLOR: Yeah, I understand.
But when you’re able to, watch that.
It’s so extraordinary.
I saw it, and I just was so stunned by it stunned by how familiar it was.
I just wanted to tell him.
It wasn’t that I was like, I want to be in your next movie!
I just wanted to tell him how he made me feel, you know?
Then, a couple years later, yeah, I stalked him.
They’re like, No.
Then, a couple years later, he invited me into this world with him.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylors Toughest Moment Didnt Make the Final Cut
It was a little bit abstract.
I am fascinated by the way actors get ready for their first day on set.
What was it like for you inhabiting this character?
What were you doing in preparation before that first day?
ELLIS-TAYLOR: I was in North Carolina.
I was finishing a job, and I was walking the shores of North Carolina a lot.
I just had shaved all my hair off I had less hair than you.
I don’t know if that’s possible.
Yeah, it is.
I remember trying to gather myself for what I was about to do.
ELLIS-TAYLOR: Well, what was one of the most difficult things ended up not being in the movie.
Im like, I went through all that, and it aint even in the middle of the movie?
There was no real direction for it, but it was just, Find him.
It was a little bit abstract, so that was very difficult and challenging.
But it’s not in the film, so you won’t see it.
ELLIS-TAYLOR: Yeah, its different.
ELLIS-TAYLOR: Oh, well, I’m not going to get to go to Bulgaria.
You’re not doingLucky Strike?
ELLIS-TAYLOR: I am, but I’m not going.
I don’t get to go to Bulgaria.
Were gonna do stuff in America.
ELLIS-TAYLOR: I’m going to do my little thing in America.
What can you tease about both projects?
ELLIS-TAYLOR:Liz Here Nowis directed by Sterling Macer.
And it stars Brady.
Don’t look at the camera!
[Laughs] When I watch this movie down the road, I will think of this.
ELLIS-TAYLOR: You will think of Brady.
Nickel Boysis in theaters now.
