Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor has many roles below her belt as of late, with greater than 80 appearing credit credited to her title, together with some hitting the 2025 film schedule. Nonetheless, earlier than The Mentalist, If Beale Road Might Speak, Quantico, Lovecraft Nation, Nickel Boys, The Shade Purple and even earlier than she joined the solid of Justified: Metropolis Primeval, the actress says it was Keke Palmer who actually helped her to land meatier roles. This was a shock for me, as I keep in mind her profession actually shifting into excessive gear thanks to a different TV function.
In 2012, Ellis-Taylor starred reverse Ms. Palmer within the Lifetime authentic film Kidnapped: The Carlina White Story. Within the film, she performed a nurse who had kidnapped a child from a hospital system years earlier than and had raised her on her personal, all whereas the kid’s beginning mother and father had been nonetheless trying to find her.
The made-for-TV film was based mostly on a real story, and it’s a job that was larger profile for the actress on the time. She mentioned in a speech whereas accepting an American Black Movie Competition (ABFF) honor (through Selection) that if it wasn’t for Keke Palmer and her mom, she may not have ever gotten the possibility to actually launch a significant Hollywood profession, noting of Carlina White:
Keke Palmer made me well-known. … And I’ve been chasing that feeling ever since. As a result of it was the primary time I felt the road between who I used to be and who I performed merged.
In fact I’d by no means need to take away the actress’ personal ideas on her profession and the pivotal second she felt like issues modified for her, however I do assume it is value noting Ellis-Taylor was already beginning to make her mark on the business a couple of years earlier than that.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor’s Good Spouse Episode Is The One That Actually Put The Actress On My Radar
In 2009, Ellis-Taylor had a one-off look on The Good Spouse, then in its first season on CBS. The present was already a crucial darling (and led to spinoffs which have turn out to be crucial darlings), and the actress landed a job in some of the memorable early Alicia Florrick episodes. In it, she performed Linda Underwood in an episode the place Alicia was defending three widows whose husbands had been concerned in a deadly prepare crash. Subsequently, the corporate was attempting to push the blame onto the useless males, leaving the widows with no pensions. It’s a large number of an episode culminating in Alicia having to make a tough ethical selection, nevertheless it’s the scenes with Ellis-Taylor that stand out.
By 2010, she’d landed a job as Madeleine Hightower in The Mentalist, and whereas she didn’t have the world’s largest function on the CBS sequence, it was a preferred procedural that loads of folks nonetheless revisit at the moment. Plus, her function was memorable and lasted for loads of episodes. It felt then that she was effectively on the best way to creating a reputation for herself.
Regardless, the reference to Keke Palmer and her mother was clearly cool and intensely significant for her. It definitely amplified her profile fairly a bit when the film got here out in 2012, however I’d wish to assume the type of roles she’s garnered since would have are available in one other manner if Palmer hadn’t been there.
On the finish of the day, it’s at all times cool when a significant actress shouts out one other main actress, and Ellis-Taylor and Palmer’s connection years later continues to be a enjoyable BTS story in regards to the internal workings of Hollywood. Now, excuse me whereas I am going watch Kidnapped: The Carlina White Story with my Amazon subscription.