Aunjanue Ellis

At 55 years old, Aunjanue Ellis has this physical status:

Aunjanue L. Ellis (born February 21, 1969) is an American film, stage, and television actress.

She began her acting career in theater and made her film debut in Girls Town.

She appeared in a number of independent films and co-starred in several mainstream films. Ellis is best known for her appearances in films Men of Honor (2001), The Caveman's Valentine (2001), Undercover Brother (2002), Ray (2004), The Economist is a newspaper distributed in the United States. The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) and The Help (2012).

Ellis appeared on television as a regular character in the ABC police drama series High Incident (1996–97), and later co-starred in a number of short-lived dramas.

She appeared on The Practice, True Blood, and The Mentalist, as well as in a number of made for television films, including Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2006) and Abducted: The Carlina White Story (2013). Ellis was the central figure in the miniseries The Book of Negroes, which was based on Lawrence Hill's best-selling book.

Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries winner acclaim and a Critics' Choice Award nomination.

Miranda Shaw appeared in the ABC thriller series Quantico from 2015 to 2017.

In the period drama film The Birth of a Nation, Ellis played Nancy Turner, Nat Turner's mother.

For her role in Netflix's When They See Us, she received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie nomination in 2019. Lovecraft Country, the upcoming HBO drama series, is starring Sheryl Crow.

Early life

Ellis was born in San Francisco, California, and grew on her grandmother's farm in Magnolia, Mississippi. She enrolled at Tougaloo College before transferring to Brown University, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in African-American studies. She has performed with Jim Barnhill and John Emigh. Ellis made her debut in a student performance during her time at Brown University. She continued to study acting in the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University's Graduate Acting Program. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Personal life

Ellis came out bisexual in her 2022 interview with Variety magazine.

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Career

Ellis made her professional debut in 1995, playing Ariel opposite Patrick Stewart's Protest in a Broadway revival of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. She made her screen debut in the Fox police drama series New York Undercover later this year. She appeared in the independent film Girls Town with Lili Taylor in 1996. Ellis appeared in films such as Ed's Next Move, Desert Blue, In Too Deep, and A Map of the World in the late 1990s. Ellis appeared in the ABC police drama film High Incident, directed by Steven Spielberg, from 1996 to 1997. After two seasons, the program was cancelled. Sharon Young appeared on ABC's legal drama in 1999. The Practice was a repeating role.

Ellis appeared in George Tillman, Jr.'s drama film Men of Honor in 2000. In the following year, she portrayed Samuel L. Jackson's mother in the mystery-drama film The Caveman's Valentine, directed by Kasi Lemmons and based on George Dawes Green's 1994 book of the same name. Ellis appeared in the critically acclaimed comedy-drama film Lovely & Wonderful in 2001.

In 2002, she appeared in the action comedy film Undercover Brother, alongside Eddie Griffin. In 2004, she appeared in the Academy Award-nominated biographical film about musician Ray Charles, Ray. Ellis appeared in the thriller Cover in 2007. The film received critical feedback. She has appeared in films Freedomland (2006), The Express (2008), and Notorious (2009). In The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009), Denzel Washington played Denzel Washington's wife.

Ellis appeared on television in 2002 as part of the ABC medical drama MDs' short-livedness. She appeared alongside Benjamin Bratt in another short-lived drama on NBC from 2005 to 2006. She has appeared on Third Watch, 100 Centre Street, Jonny Zero, Justice, and True Blood. In the made-for-television film Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story, she co-starred Cuba Gooding Jr. and Kimberly Elise in 2009.

Ellis has appeared in a number of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater productions. She appeared in Drowning Crow, Regina Taylor's play, at the Manhattan Theatre Club in January 2004. She taught entertainment industry courses at Hampton University in the Spring 2012 semester. "Through the Crack," a Hampton Players and Company production, was also included.

Ellis co-starred opposite Wesley Snipes in the 2010 film Game of Death. She appeared in the independent film The Tested, which was based on the award-winning 2005 short film of the same name. She appeared in Tate Taylor's critically acclaimed period drama The Help, as Eula Mae Davis, one of the maids, for which she received accolades as a member of the ensemble cast. She appeared in the biographical drama film Get On Up about singer James Brown's life in 2014, which was also directed by Tate Taylor. Ellis starred in the independent films Money Matters (2011), The Volunteer (2013), Romeo and Juliet in Harlem (2014), and Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind (2014). Abducted: The Carlina White Story, a leading role in the 2012 television film Abducted.

Ellis appeared in CBS' The Mentalist from 2010 to 2013 as Madeleine Hightower. Ashley Judd's best friend in the 2012 ABC miniseries Missing, as well as another appearance on CBS' NCIS: Los Angeles. Ellis appeared in the 2013 AMC pilot The Dividend, as one of the lead characters. Ellis left and was recast with Nia Long when WE tv picked up the show.

Ellis was based on Lawrence Hill's best-selling 2007 book The Book of Negroes, which was released in 2014 as the lead in the international co-production epic miniseries The Book of Negroes. Ellis' debut in 2015 was lauded by critics for her work. Whitney Matheson, a Hollywood Reporter columnist, lauded her performance. Ellis is present in almost every scene, aged decades and showing a dazzling variety of emotions, except for the first installment that focuses on Aminata's girlhood. Ellis received the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie or Miniseries nomination for her role. Ellis was cast in the ABC thriller series Quantico on February 25, 2015. After two seasons in 2017, she departed the show after two seasons.

Ellis co-starred in the historical drama The Birth of a Nation, based on Nat Turner's account of the 1831 slave revolt in the United States. Nate Parker, Aja Naomi King, Armie Hammer, and Gabrielle Union appear in the film. In the film, Ellis plays Nancy Turner, Nat's mother. In 2016, she was opposite Keke Palmer in the drama film Pimp about women on the streets of New York and working in the illicit sex trade. If Beale Street Could Talk, a Barry Jenkins-directed drama film, she appeared in If Beale Street Could Talk in 2018.

Ellis appeared in a leading role on CBS drama pilot Chiefs in February 2018. It wasn't even a series that had been on display. She was later cast in the independent drama film Miss Virginia, opposite Uzo Aduba and Vanessa Williams. When They See Us for Netflix, Ava DuVernay-directed miniseries In 2019, she appeared in the Ava DuVernay-directed miniseries When They See Us. She received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie nomination for her appearance.

Ellis co-stars in the HBO drama series Lovecraft Country, based on Matt Ruff's book of the same name. In the Lifetime television film The Clark Sisters of Gospel, Mattie Moss Clark, the mother of The Clark Sisters, portrayed her. With positive feedback from critics, the film premiered on April 11, 2020 and became the highest-rated original film for Lifetime since 2016. Ellis was lauded specifically by critics, followers, and the Clark Sisters for her appearance. For her appearance in a television movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special nomination, she was given the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special nomination. Ellis also appeared in King Richard, a biopic about Richard Williams, in 2020. The actress' appearance in the film received critical acclaim, earning her her first Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture nominations. Ellis also received prizes at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, Satellite Awards, and Black Reel Awards for Best Supporting Actress, as well as the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress.

Ellis was portrayed opposite Courtney B. Vance of AMC's limited drama series 61st Street in 2021.

Ellis appeared in Andra Day, Glenn Close, and Mo'Nique in an exorcism thriller film The Deliverance for Netflix, directed by Lee Daniels, in 2022. She joined The Color Purple, a 2023 film that appeared on television. She is also scheduled to appear in Justified: City Primeval, Elmore Leonard's limited series based on Elmore Leonard's City Primeval: High Noon in Detroit. In the Tina Mabry's The Supremes At Earl's All-You-Can-Eat for Searchlight Pictures, she appeared alongside Uzo Aduba and Sanaa Lathan.

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