True Blood star slams actor who quit show over planned gay storyline
True Blood star Nelsan Ellis has spoken out about Luke Grimes’ decision to quit the show over a planned gay storyline for his character.
Grimes – who played vampire James on the HBO show – abruptly quit in December, ahead of the show’s final seventh season, in which his character his character has a relationship with Ellis’ character, the medium Lafayette.
His role has subsequently been recast, with Nathan Parsons taking on the part for the final run.
Speaking to Vulture, Ellis said: “I just think that, you’re an actor. We’re all sitting there going, ‘You quit your job because … really?’
“I’m just… I’m over him. You quit your job because you don’t want to play a gay part? As if it’s … You know what? I’m going to stop talking.”
“You make a statement when you do something like that.
“You make a big statement, when you go, ‘I don’t want to play this part because it’s gay.’
“If you have a child, if you have a son, and he comes out as gay, what are you going to do? If you have a daughter who comes out gay? You just made a statement, and it has ripple effects.”
“I’m supposed to do what my boss tells me to do, as an actor.
“I can’t approach a character with judgment. I certainly can’t tell my boss, ‘I can act what I want to act, but not what you tell me to act,’ especially on a show where you come in, knowing what it is.”
