Nelsan Ellis Talks to VULTURE About Lafayette’s (Possible) Happy Ending, Saying Goodbye

Vulture has a lovely new interview with Nelsan Ellis talking about Lafayette getting a second chance at love, saying goodbye to True Blood (and all the babies on set!), and his thoughts on Luke Grimes leaving the show.

We haven’t talked much about that last situation, at least not publicly, because the reason we suspected Grimes left was unconfirmed. Well, Nelsan confirmed it, and while we understand that Grimes may have been uncomfortable acting out gay sex scenes and has every right to refuse to do them, we are disappointed in how he handled the matter. Conflicting statements and petulant comments to avoid telling the truth have likely done his reputation far more harm than simply stating upfront that he was uncomfortable with that specific aspect of the character’s storyline. And that’s all we have to say about that.

Now enjoy Nelsan’s interview!

Lafayette’s been lonely for a really long time …
I think this season for Lafayette is about redemption and taking command of his own happiness. He’s not happy in the first half of the season, but he becomes happy the second half of the season. And I can’t say why he’s not happy in the first half of the season. Wait — yes, I can! That [episode] already aired. [Laughs] Tara died.

It’s completely understandable that he’s been in mourning and unhappy for so long, because Jesús died, and then Tara died. But we’ve been rooting for him to get some for a while. A lot of people have — as long as it’s love this time.
It is. It is. It’s love. I’m a very lucky actor, because this is my second love interest. We deal with certain fans of that, and we have good chemistry, and we throw everything into it. I can’t say enough about Nathan. Both of my love interests are great guys, great actors, both Kevin Alejandro and Nathan Parsons, and I love them onscreen. Every moment with them. You know what? I kind of fall in love with both of them! I guess I’m supposed to.

(Keep reading…)