Nelsan Ellis From “True Blood” Has Died
You and I are the same if you screamed out loud, “NOT LAFAYETTE!“, over this awful, soul-breaking news. Nelsan Ellis, who played Lafayette (aka the best character on True Blood) to perfection, died at the way-too-damn-young age of 39. Now who’s going to serve AIDS burgers to the piece of trash homophobes?
Nelsan’s manager, Emily Gerson Saines, confirmed the sad news to The Hollywood Reporter and said that he died after complications of heart failure.
“Nelsan has passed away after complications with heart failure. He was a great talent, and his words and presence will be forever missed.”
Nelsan was a true ac-tor, because he was a drama graduate from Juilliard. Rutina Wesley, who played Tara Thornton on True Blood, also graduated from Juilliard. Three years after he graduated, he got the role of Lafayette Reynolds, the honey-dipped short order cook/drug dealer who was never the one. The character of Lafayette gets killed off in the books, but Nelsan played the character so well that he stuck around. Nelsan played Lafayette from the beginning of True Blood to the very end, and even when that show got so damn terrible, Lafayette still made it good.
He also played Martin Luther King, Jr. in The Butler and was in Get On Up, The Help, Little Boxes and The Stanford Prison Experiment. His last role was as Shinwell on Elementary.
Nelsan leaves behind a son.
Rest in peace, Nelsan. Thank you for this:
Pic: HBO GIF: JJB