Aunjanue Ellis Tells Regina King She’s ‘an Icon of Black American Cinema’ in Emotional Conversation
variety.comAunjanue Ellis (“King Richard”) and Regina King (“The Harder They Fall”) sat down for a virtual chat for Variety’s Actors on Actors, presented by Amazon Studios.
For more, click here.Regina King and Aunjanue Ellis have shared the screen twice, in 2004’s “Ray” and 2018’s “If Beale Street Could Talk.” In both outings, the actors played adversaries — first as songstresses competing for Ray Charles’ affections and then as the mothers of the central lovers in “Beale Street” who don’t see eye to eye about their children’s relationship.“I feel like we’ve been robbed,” King says. “We need to have something where it’s just me and you all the way through.” To which Ellis jokes: “What do you mean?
Two women actually talking on screen?” The laughs continue as the actors discuss their creative process crafting their latest characters — King’s “Treacherous” Trudy Smith in “The Harder They Fall” and Ellis’ Oracene Price, mother to (and coach of) future tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams in “King Richard.” But as the conversation turns more serious, King and Ellis tear up talking about the responsibility they feel toward the next generation of Black women. (This interview was conducted before King confirmed on Jan.
21 the sudden death of her son, Ian Alexander Jr. He was 26.)AUNJANUE ELLIS: I just remember during “Ray,” we were going at it, and I tried to sidle up to you a couple times, just trying to chat …REGINA KING: And I wasn’t having it?
Read more on variety.com
