Early years - Ellis was born in San Francisco, California.
She has a sister, and was raised on her grandmother's farm in McComb, Mississippi.
Education - She attended Tougaloo College before transferring to Brown University, where she completed her Bachelor of Arts in African-American studies.
Ellis also studied acting with Jim Barnhill and John Emigh.
During her years at Brown University, Ellis made her debut in a student play.
She went on to study acting in the Graduate Acting Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts.
Ellis is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.
Acting career - Ellis has had a very busy career.
She began her acting career in theater, and made her film debut in Girls Town.
Ellis has played leading roles in a number of independent movies, and co-starred in several mainstream films.
She is best known for her roles in films Men of Honor (2000), The Caveman's Valentine (2001), Undercover Brother (2002), Ray (2004), The Express: The Ernie Davis Story (2008), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) and The Help (2011).
On television, Ellis had regular role in the ABC police drama series High Incident (1996–97), and later co-starred in a number of short-lived dramas.
She had recurring roles on The Practice, True Blood, and The Mentalist, and played roles in a number of made for television movies, such as Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009) and Abducted: The Carlina White Story (2013).
In 2015, Ellis played the leading role in the miniseries The Book of Negroes, based on bestselling novel by Lawrence Hill.
From 2015 to 2017, she starred as Miranda Shaw in the ABC thriller series Quantico.
In 2016, Ellis played Nancy Turner, Nat Turner's mother, in the period drama film The Birth of a Nation.
She played in the Netflix miniseries When They See Us in 2019.
Current projects - Ellis is starring in the HBO drama series Lovecraft Country.
Awards - In 2015, for her role in The Book of Negroes she received critical acclaim and a Critic's Choice Award nomination for Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries.
In 2019, she received Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie nomination for her performance in the Netflix miniseries When They See Us.
Personal life - There’s not a lot that’s known about her personal life.
Like several other stars, Ellis keeps her personal life under wraps.
She's not married, and she says she doesn't plan to.
Social media stats as of August 2020:
18.1K followers on Facebook
18.9K followers on Twitter
Bio / wiki sources: Wikipedia, accounts on social media, content from our users.
What users say about Aunjanue Ellis
stanley: she is inspiring with her actings. this is my number (August 31, 2020)Reply »
Education
Tougaloo College
Brown University
New York University's Tisch School of the Arts
Quotes
Every role is a potential lover. I ask: Are they someone I want to wake up to in the morning and go to bed with at night? Do they question my assumptions about life? Consume me to distraction? Make me cry, then clown to make me laugh again? If I say yes, then it's all I need.
I love playing different characters and things that are challenging. I'm not interested in safety at all. That's what makes me get up in the morning.
A lot of practical things keep me motivated, like taking care of my family. On an artistic level, there are stories that I want to tell. I grew up in a storytelling-rich community. It is important to me as a consumer of art and I guess in some ways a wannabe artist to continue that tradition, and acting is my chosen genre at this point to do that.
Pain doesn't have a face and pain doesn't have a certain way of adjusting. Pain is universal.