Actor Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is front and center in Ava DuVernay’s “Origin,” a film interpretation of Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 nonfiction bestseller and Oprah's Book Club pick “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.”
Like the book, “Origin” follows Wilkerson (Ellis-Taylor) as she journeys over several continents to explore how the idea of caste underlies racism across cultures. Lauded and well-received by critics — though it was mostly passed over for major awards — the film is the highest tested movie in DuVernay’s career and for its distributor, Neon.
Yet, even with such high praise for the film and Ellis-Taylor’s stunning portrayal of a grieving and thoughtful Wilkerson, the Oscar nominated actor reveals she has yet to receive any feedback from the author on her portrayal and says she’s not looking forward to it, either.
“I would be afraid of what she had (to say),” Ellis-Taylor tells TODAY.com. “I don’t want to know.”
Unlike DuVernay, who interviewed Wilkerson more than a dozen times over the course of 15 months to better understand “Caste” and the author’s “personal journey” in making it, Ellis-Taylor says her only connection to Wilkerson was through the “research” she did.
“I looked at video of her interviews — I did a lot of cross referencing trying to see how she was in one interview versus how she wasn’t in another interview,” the actor tells TODAY.com, before noting that she also used the author’s TED talk for inspiration. “And I tried to glean as much as I could from that and use that as the information to inform me and what I did.”
The same can be said for breakout star Niecy Nash-Betts, whose character of Marion Wilkerson, Isabel’s cousin, wasn’t featured in the book. DuVernay explains that Marion was created after the author told her about her “personal journey and her personal losses” that she endured while making “Caste.”
“Isabel Wilkerson told me directly about her cousin, and this woman who was completely outside of academic circles, intellectual circles, who was a sounding board for her — who was the person who she would try ideas with and try to explain things to and hone some of our arguments with,” the director tells TODAY.com.
DuVernay says that Marion was born out of her “interpretation of that relationship,” which she likened to her own close friendship with Nash-Betts, whom she deemed as “the perfect person to play that part.”
“And I understood the assignment!” responds a boisterous Nash-Betts. According to the newly minted Emmy Award winner, her assignment was simple: “Can you bring some light?”
“Where are the places, the cracks, we can see a little lightness in there?” she continues. “I was happy to show up and provide provision for the vision.”
Nash-Betts says that despite leaning on the director to understand her character, she mostly improvised Marion, making her like “every woman to the audience.” She is Isabel's support system and encourager, helping her make complicated ideas simple.
“I just felt like I know that woman,” she tells TODAY.com. “I’ve been that one. So showing up at a place of service was easy to tap into.”
“Because, you know, I’ve just started serving myself first — that’s a new phenomenon for me,” she quips.
Wilkerson has not posted about "Origin" on social media or given interviews tied to the promotion of the film or its release. DuVernay did not directly address Wilkerson’s seeming disengagement from the film, but shared a few words on Wilkerson's character.
“Isabel Wilkerson, the real person, is very elegant, she has a quiet strength,” she says. “Sometimes it feels like things are reserved, but I think it’s more conserved, she conserves her energy, and she puts it all in her words and in her writing. And that’s a very delicate balance.”
TODAY.com reached out to Wilkerson for comment, but did not hear back at the time of publication.
Ellis-Taylor says the author’s lack of involvement is not something she focuses on.
“You just pray for the best,” she says.
DuVernay says she looks at “Origin” like a “parent sending my child off to college,” she says. She’s proud of her work, and proud of what Ellis-Taylor was able to accomplish.
“She’s getting a lot of love. She’s getting a lot of love from a lot of people,” she says.
