Aunjanue Ellis has an impressive list of credits, including ‘Men of Honor, ‘Ray’, the film based on the life of Ray Charles, and her starring role in ‘Undercover Brother.’
If you ask her what she likes best, film, television or stage, her answer would be she embraces them all.
If Aunjanue Ellis, seems familiar to you, it may be because she’s what the industry calls a ‘working actress.’
“Every job that I get is a blessing and any actor will tell you that,” says Ellis.
You might have caught her episode on the ‘Mentalist,’ trading barbs with Simon Baker.
And if by chance you missed that, surely you checked out her role in the movie ‘The Help’.
She still marvels that the film featuring nearly an all-female cast disproved the Hollywood theory that only action movies make money.
“The great thing about ‘The Help,’ I’m so excited about the success of that movie, is not just the commercial success, it made a lie out of that,” says Ellis.
Film, television, and now Ellis is gracing the stage at Hampton University in a play adapted from her best friend’s book titled ‘Through the Crack’.
The author, Charrita D. Danley, tells the story of a college co-ed whose promising future is interrupted by an addiction to crack cocaine.
She had to perfect her role as Vicky in three days working side by side with acting students at Hampton.
“Stage is great in that you have more time to develop relationships with the people you are working with,” says Ellis.
“It’s an amazing experience for me, and I’m so grateful to be a part of that,” she says.
But most of all, she wants her friend, who based her book on real-life pain, to feel that Ellis brought the pages to life on stage.
The Hampton University Players and Company will present the stage adaptation of ‘Through the Crack,’ March 15th – 18th at 8 p.m. with a Sunday matinee March 18th at 3 p.m. The novel is available right now at Barnes and Nobel.
