Actor, Nelsan Ellis who passed away on 8th July due to heart failure at the age of 39, is widely remembered for his power-packed role in the HBO series, ‘True Blood.’
The actor, played the role of Lafayette Reynolds in the HBO original series which ran for a period of 6 years from 2008 to 2014.
Based on the best-selling novel-series, ‘The Southern Vampire Mysteries’ by author Charlaine Harris, ‘True Blood’ was a dark fantasy horror which revolved around the stories of ‘straight-out-of-the-graves’ vampires who now inhibit the land of the living.
Ellis’ character, Lafayette Reynolds, was a short-order cook at a restaurant owned by one of the lead characters, who also works as a vampire blood seller. One of the most famous Gay characters on Television, the popularity of Lafayette rose so much, that the character was allowed to have a run till the final installment of the series, despite the original novel mentioning him being killed in the second season itself.
The sassy and tongue-in-cheek Reynolds, had several ‘snappy’ moments on the show – but the one that went viral on social media the most was his a scene from the first season, featuring him fighting the ignorance of three bigots who refuse to eat the food cooked by him, “implying that they will catch AIDS” if they do so.
Reynolds’s bold confrontation was the most satisfactory retaliation to the bigotry and prejudice, and was so perfectly played out by Ellis, giving us a hint of feminine and masculine sides of the character at the same time – that it was re-watched by millions online again after it went viral.
Watch the power-packed, super-sassy scene from the show:
Sissy that walk up to heaven, Ellis.
You’ll be terribly missed.