"The reality is most things that I've done, I rarely talk to women on screen. And it gets a little tired."
Ever since Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in King Richard, she's kept busy with three major upcoming projects. In Lee Daniel's The Deliverance (in theaters now; on Netflix August 30), she co-stars alongside Glenn Close and Mo'Nique. "I just hope they didn't catch me staring." She's following that up with Hulu's The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat (August 23), about Ellis-Taylor's Odette and her two best friends. "I love that Odette was always a protector of her friends...I just think that's heroic." And she's wrapping things up this fall with the film adaptation of Colson Whitehead's novel The Nickel Boys. For Ellis-Taylor, it was the curiosity of the real-life events that led her to it. "I love that idea that it opens this door to discovering things that we just don't know about." But no matter how busy she is, she's self-aware about this moment in her career. "It's cyclical. You have these moments where it just feels like, 'OK, I'm doing the thing,' and then something can happen and you feel like you're not doing the thing anymore. I am just grateful."
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Editor's Note: This conversation has been edited and condensed for publication.
What excited you about The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat?
Well, first of all, the director, Tina Mabry, is another Mississippi woman, and I'm always excited to work with other folks from Mississippi. I think we have a particular kind of voice. She did this film called Mississippi Damned that I thought was really, really good. So I was geeked about that. And I got to tell you, to tell a story that's about women and relationships between women. The reality is most things that I've done, I rarely talk to women on screen. And it gets a little tired, you know? You want to talk to another woman. I was really happy that that was the focus of it, that the focus was going to be a friendship between women. And I love those old films like Waiting to Exhale, Fried Green Tomatoes. Like they used to do those movies and I just thought they were so fun. So, I felt Supremes could do something like that.
Also, when they do make those films, it's so rarely about or from the perspective of Black women. Did that stand out to you?
Oh, yeah. Here's the thing, we all have our tragedies before noon. [laughs] You know what I mean? Lord, like by 12 o'clock I'm like, "Okay, I just need to come back." But it's just that they're our everyday dramas that we have that is important to no one except our friends. And that kind of space where it's just, "I love you anyway. Are you spiraling? Absolutely, you're spiraling, but I'm here for it. What else do you got?" You know? And I just love that, and I have to say, I had a conversation with a friend of mine earlier in the summer and we were talking about women friendships being like being like romances. How we see less of ourselves in traditional heteronormative portrayals of romance, and see ourselves more in stories about female friendships, because they are as rich and deep and soulful.
And often those friendships last longer than the romantic ones.
Yes. And I think about friends that I've had in my life, and some of them I've let go, some of them let me go, and they are no less heartbreaking. I think that we make space for some dude or some woman breaking your heart, that it is romantic and sex is involved, but sometimes it doesn't have to be those things. It can just be someone who you want to be witness to your life for the rest of your life. Those are as important and significant and life giving.
The multigenerational aspect of the storytelling in the Supremes stood out to me, allowing us to see how these friendships grew over time. What do you think it is about seeing a character's totality in a project like this?
I just think it's interesting to see the map of a life, how you can think you will be something when you're 17, and how how that changes. It's interesting. Seeing that on the canvas of a film, because you get to see the hopes and dreams of a teenager, and what can happen, and all that stuff can get exploded and then you get reminded of what that was.
It's also so interesting to see the things that make up who we are as a kid and how they manifest as an adult.
Right. And also the good things that you hold on to. I love that Odette was always a protector of her friends. She was the type that didn't change about her. How she felt about herself changed. But she was a protector of her friends when she was a kid and she remained that way. I just think that's heroic a little bit, you know?
You're also in Lee Daniel's The Deliverance, which couldn't be more different. I legit did not expect that movie from him. What interested you about doing it?
Lee Daniels. And scene. [laughs] I mean, I have watched from a distance a couple of the careers of directors, and just have been like, I don't care what I do, I just want to be in the room with them. I don't care if I'm doing craft services, I don't care if I'm holding a microphone, I just want to be in this. I want to share the same air that they breathe. And Lee was one of those guys for me. And I love the fact that you say you didn't expect that from him. But isn't that him though. You don't know what to expect. You don't know what to expect. And I just love that. I've just admired that so much about him. And he makes stars. The great thing about him is he's able to see something in a person and go, "Okay, that will be gorgeous on screen. That would move me on screen." And I just love that he has that eye for that. So when he invited me to be a part of this. I was just like a giggling person.
When I saw the trailer, I was already hooked. Then I saw it was you, Glenn Close, Andra Day and Mo'Nique. My popcorn couldn't get popped soon enough. Is that spooky genre something you like?
Well, that is my sister and my niece and nephew's thing. I just say, "Can I come in now? Is the gory part of it over?" But when they are really well done, it can say so much about who we are. I think that's why, when you think about the work of Jordan Peele, there's something about that genre that can reveal so much to us in a way that other genres can't and don't. Because you can be bold. All bets are off in it. And it's fun. I had a good time playing that character. I had a really good time.
What was it like working with this cast?
I mean, I was never in scenes with them directly. I just hope they didn't catch me staring. [laughs] "I was like what's happening here? What is going on here?" Yeah.
Another project you have coming out is the film Nickel Boys, based on Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning book. What about the film version made you want to be part of it?
Well, RaMell Ross is the director, and he did a documentary that he was nominated for an Oscar for [Hale County This Morning, This Evening]. And after I saw that film I called him, he's a professor at Brown. So I just called Brown like, "Can I speak with RaMell Ross?" Of course, they were like, "No." But I wanted to work with him so bad. And then someone told me that they were about to do the Nickel Boys adaptation, and it really didn't matter what they were going to do, I just really wanted to be in his creative company in some sort of way. And then this story, which is just devastating, heartbreaking, I just hope that people will respond to it. And the book, God is, as you said, so successful. So, I hope the film lives up to that.
It seems like so many of your projects come from curiosity. Either being moved by a director or a part of history or something you just don't see that much on screen. Is that curiosity a big part of how you choose projects?
Definitely. Deliverance is based on true events, so of course, when I found that out I was like, Googala, my friend, call her. And specifically with the Nickel Boys story, knowing that that wasn't an isolated thing. That were these reformatory schools, and the abuse that happened in them, it became this thing that happened in the 20th century. There were others like that that I've even found out about since filming. So yeah, I love that idea that it opens this door to discovering things that we just don't know about, or we take for granted that frankly, our formal traditional education doesn't offer.
I have been loving seeing you get your flowers. From your Oscar nomination for King Richard to now. How does it feel for you to be not only just in demand but respected at this point in your career?
It's cyclical. You know what I mean? You have these moments where it just feels like, okay, I'm doing the thing, this is the thing, I'm doing the thing, and then something can happen and you feel like you're not doing the thing anymore. So I got to say that I am just grateful. It feels so good to me that you want to talk to me, and talk to me about the work I've done and the company I've kept in doing the work that I'm doing. Working with the kind of people that I'm working with. I am grateful, and I always want more.
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A writer/comedian based in Los Angeles. Host of the weekly podcast Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott, every week H. Alan is joined by a different celebrity. Past guests include Tom Hanks, Keke Palmer, Melissa McCarthy, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Probst, Tiffany Haddish, Jamie Lee Curtis, Idris Elba, Bette Midler, and many more. He also writes the Parting Shot portion of the magazine, the iconic last page of every issue. Subscribe to H. Alan's For the Culture newsletter, everything you need to know in pop culture delivered to your inbox every Tuesday and Thursday. H. Alan has previously appeared on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, Ellen, CNN, MTV, and has published work in Esquire, OUT Magazine and VICE. Follow him @HAlanScott.
A writer/comedian based in Los Angeles. Host of the weekly podcast Parting Shot with H. Alan Scott, ... Read more
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