Te Blood's Nelsan Ellis Talks Gay Stereotyp & Tyler Perry

Contents:

• SPOILER ALERT: TE BLOOD TURNS STRAIGHT CHARACTER GAY… BUT WHICH ONE?
• NELSAN ELLIS (LAFAYETTE) TALKS ‘TE BLOOD,’ GAY MARRIAGE, TYLER PERRY
• 'TE BLOOD' ACTOR LE GRIM QU OVER GAY ROLE (REPORT)
• TE BLOOD’S NELSAN ELLIS TALKS GAY STEREOTYP & TYLER PERRY
• TE BLOOD'S LAFAYETTE SLAYS GAY STEREOTYP

SPOILER ALERT: TE BLOOD TURNS STRAIGHT CHARACTER GAY… BUT WHICH ONE?

” Ellis played Lafayette Reynolds, a gay ok, through the seven-season n of “Te Blood. ”Onle news se The Gr praised Ellis’s portrayal of Lafayette as one that “slays gay stereotyp. Relled by many as talented and unrrated, Ellis beme a Te Blood fan-favore for his portrayal of the scene-stealg, gay short orr ok at Merlotte’s Bar the fictnal Louisiana town.

” Ellis’s character was ld for breakg stereotyp of gay men. "Yet over s seven seasons the seri also went the extra e by cludg many gay, lbian, and bisexual characters who were jt as diverse, dangero, and memorable as Bon Temps' other rints. He was open and unapologetic about his love of sex and the male form while livg the ty fictnal town of Bon Temps, Louisiana — the type of place where ’s not necsarily safe to be gay, or black, and certaly not both at the same time.

NELSAN ELLIS (LAFAYETTE) TALKS ‘TE BLOOD,’ GAY MARRIAGE, TYLER PERRY

As Lafayette, Ellis expand the untry’s llective imagatn of what a queer black man uld look, sound and act like, startg jt months before California passed Proposn 8, which banned same-sex marriage, and years before Print Barack Obama announced an “evolutn” his thkg about gay rights. Williams) such a memorable part of The Wire — his gayns isn’t the fg feature of his character. He’s gay a way that feels unique to the projects of Baltimore.

When first aired 2005, Noah’s Arc many ways felt like a black rponse to the overwhelmg whens of Showtime’s Amerin adaptatn of Queer as Folk, another landmark show that challenged what meant to see gay men on televisn.

Noah’s Arc centered on a group of middle-class gay black men livg Los Angel.

'TE BLOOD' ACTOR LE GRIM QU OVER GAY ROLE (REPORT)

It was a way to say, “Hey, black people live gentrified gayborhoods and drk smopolans and battle HIV stigma too. I don’t answer that qutn — ‘Are you gay or not? Ne years after the last episo of The Wire aired, Williams is still sistg terviews that he’s more than jt Omar Ltle, spe a lany of rol, gay and straight, sce Omar buted.

TE BLOOD’S NELSAN ELLIS TALKS GAY STEREOTYP & TYLER PERRY

But his portrayal of the gay short-orr ok who als blood was so popular among fans that even though the character was killed off the book versn of the vampire drama, he was kept on for all seven seasons of the show, Rollg Stone reports.

" When asked whether he had heard feedback om the gay muny, Ellis told the magaze, "Only that they haven't seen a du like that before. Take a look back at some of the gay sex dreams that have appeared on Te Blood, which, often feature Kwanten as the betiful season 6, Jason Stackhoe shared a sexy dream sequence after drkg the vae of the vampire-fairy Warlow, played by Rob Kazsky. Earlier the show's n, Jason received a surprise bedfellow the form of Eddie, a middle-aged gay vampire.

And, of urse, there’s rint bisexual Pam and openly gay Lafayette, the latter of whom is now settled down wh J. Lafayette is a gay man who is flamboyant and egreg but at the same time isn’t stereotypil.

TE BLOOD'S LAFAYETTE SLAYS GAY STEREOTYP

Here, he tells VIBE how he brought Lafayette to life, what the gay muny thks about the character and how he plans to transn beyond his Te Blood role.

So that stereotype you were playg mt have been a Queenie type of gay guy, huh? What’s been the feedback om the gay muny?

I don’t thk ’s a reflectn of the gay muny that’s jt Lafayette. But this is jt om what I hear, I haven’t really spoken to the gay muny outsi him [Lghs].