Don't mess with Lafayette - "True Blood" actor Nelsan Ellis is speaking out after co-star Luke Grimes quit the hit HBO series over his character's gay storyline.
In an interview with Vulture, the 35-year-old actor and playwright, who plays Lafayette Reynolds on the supernatural dramatic series, expressed his disappointment behind Grimes' departure. Ellis said he could not understand Grimes' concerns over portraying a bisexual character.
"I just think that, you're an actor, you're an actor on a show that's 'True Blood' [and] we're all sitting there going, 'You quit your job because ... really?'" Ellis said. "I'm just... I'm over him. You quit your job because you don't want to play a gay part?"
He told the website: "You have to be open. But more importantly, you make a statement when you do something like that. I did a documentary called 'Damn Wonderful' about gay suicide, and you make a statement, 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?"
Ellis continued criticizing Grimes' decision, saying that an actor should not "approach a character with judgment."
"First of all, this show, it's 'True Blood,' and s--t, we get scared when we read scripts!" he said. "When scripts come, we're like, 'What are they going to have us do this week? 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."
Grimes, who was raised in a devout Christian family, portrayed James Kent on season six of "True Blood," but quit the programed show in December before season seven began. Reports stated that Grimes' decision to leave was based on his refusal to play a gay character.
The actor previously denied claims that a homosexual storyline was his reason for leaving the show and a representative for the actor said his departure was due to a scheduling conflict with the filming of two upcoming movies, including "Fifty Shades of Grey".
Grimes' character was replaced by actor Nathan Parsons. The latest episode of "True Blood" shows Ellis and Parsons becoming romantically involved. Ellis said the two actors have "good chemistry."
"I love watching him work," the actor said. "Our first scene together, I just listened to him talk most of the time. And we have good chemistry, and it worked."
The seventh and final season of "True Blood" airs on Sundays at 9 p.m.
