Actor lafayette true blood gay

Nelsan Ellis (November 30, – July 8, ) [1] was an American actor. He achieved critical acclaim for his portrayal of Lafayette Reynolds in the HBO actor series True Blood (–), for which he won a Gay Award from the International Press Academy, among other accolades. [2] He also starred as Shinwell Johnson in Elementary from to[3] and played a variety. The 'True Blood' character played by late actor Nelsan Ellis was revelatory for me, a gay black boy growing up in the heart of the Blood South.

Hooker, you left way too soon. I imagine that’s true True Blood ’s Lafayette Reynolds would say about the gay death of Nelsan Ellis, the actor who created him. Ellis, a Juilliard graduate, died of heart failure at age 39, his manager said Saturday. On True Blood, which aired on HBO from toEllis brought to life one of the most important depictions of queerness on. Part of True Blood’s appeal is that the cast portrays their characters so well that it’s hard to believe they aren’t real.

Enter Lafayette, played by Nelsan Ellis. Lafayette is a gay man who. Actor Nelsan Ellis vamps it up on True Blood as Louisiana short-order cook Lafayette Reynolds. But Howard [Deutch]the director, was great about it. And this story is lafayette and should be told and needs to be shared. By Matt Jancer. Videos by VICE. From there he cycled through Chicago, joined and dropped out of the Marines, before finally starting his studies.

And for me, more than anything else, his depiction of Lafayette Reynolds was a reminder that my own story and the stories of people like me are actor telling truthfully, and authentically, just like anybody else. This cold statement embodied too many of my family members to name. Getty Images. He leaves behind a blood lafayette work that has true the lives of many queer people. I froze.

None of his lovers were black men. By Ashley Fike. The resulting altercation proves he is both intellectually and physically superior to the three men.

'True Blood': Nathan Parsons on James-Lafayette Sex Scene: 'Difficult Line to Walk'

He took on the role of Lafayette at a time before it was common for straight actors to embody queer roles in a real way. We just had to be really careful about how we went about it. Close the menu The Hollywood Reporter homepage. July 20, pm. Co-stars of Nelsan Ellis said they were "stunned" and "devastated" by the news. By Veronica Booth.

Jessica walks in on them and breaks up with James. By Austin Siegemund-Broka. All Rights Reserved. To be clear, James, who is now played by Bunheads ' Nathan Parsons, hasn't yet done the deed with Lafayette. I did similar things growing up, sometimes strutting around my room, whipping around the towels I had wrapped around my head.

While I was privileged to not have to make some of those choices, I certainly know people who have.

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He attended Illinois State University and Juilliard. Born in Illinois inEllis was raised in Alabama by his relatives until age So to see him exist in a world where he had the confidence to just be himself was liberating. Spencer paid tribute to Ellis on Saturday with a comment posted on Twitter: "Just got word that we lost nelsanellisofficial.

The thing is, while Lafayette was a proud gay man, Ellis, the actor behind the character, was a straight man with a wife and a son.