Oscar-nominated Aunjanue Ellis felt she might be a long shot for her role as Oracene Price in King Richard, but she fought for the part and was determined not to let it slip away,
Now, Ellis is up for her first Academy Award, having been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of Oracene “Brandy” Price, mother of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, in the sports biopic.
Ellis, 53, recalls how she competed with other high-profile names for the role.
In an episode of the PEOPLE Every Day podcast, she spoke about how the minds behind the film were interested in other actresses.
“I knew that they were interested and were going to pursue some other actors who are a lot more famous than I am. I’ll just put it like that,” the actress explained. “I wanted this part when I read it… But when I found out that they were thinking about other people, it didn’t worry me too much because I felt like, ‘I’m going to have a shot at this.'”
Ellis taped herself with her sister while “yelling at my nieces and nephew in between takes” before meeting with director Reinaldo Marcus Green and her co-star and executive producer, Will Smith.
“I had to on the down-low get on a plane while I was doing Lovecraft Country and run out to Los Angeles real quick and read with Will at his house,” she recalls.
On The Envelope podcast, Ellis shared she never felt her role would lead to this kind of acclaim.
“I mean, I just wanted to be in the movie so badly, you know, and I had to fight for it. That’s what I do. I fight for roles,” she said.
“And then we started shooting it, and every day I said, ‘OK, this is too good to be true, so something bad is going to happen.’ And then the pandemic happened. And I said, ‘See? See?’ And I said, ‘We’ll never finish the movie.’ Every week I was like,’ This movie is going to shut down. We’re never going to finish it,” she added.
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Ellis played the role so well that the Williams sisters applauded her.
“She is my mom. She did such a good job with everything. It just made me feel like she embraced that role to a whole new level. Living that life and being there, it was so great to see her embody my mom. I get chills thinking about it,” Serena Williams said according to Essence.
When King Richard was finally finished and received its accolades, Ellis applauded this Oscar nomination for Miss Oracene herself.
“I feel like it’s Miss Oracene’s nomination. People are hearing her name in a way that they have not heard it before, and she deserves that. She’s been clapping for her daughters her entire life. I’m excited about the fact that somebody is clapping for her now. You know she deserves that.” Ellis proclaimed.
