My name is Ramell Ross. I'm the co-writer and director of “Nickel Boys.” “Young man! Young man. Do you know a student named Elwood Curtis? Hattie, who is played by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, is visiting her grandson, Elwood, who is played by Ethan Herisse in Nickel Academy, in which he is unfairly sent He meets Turner, who is Elwood's friend, and Turner is played by Brandon Wilson, and Turner is the cameraman since the movie is shot in point of view, our camera operator in this case, Sam Ellison, is there. acting as Turner's eyes AND allowing him to participate in Turner's reality by seeing with him, seeing alongside him And so when he comes to give Turner a hug, which he does because he says he can't hug Elwood, he's essentially. coming into close contact with Sam, and Sam is making a camera that mimics as best as possible where the head would go and where the gaze, the eyes would go in relation to being in that proximity. And with that process, Hattie is like Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. , you can't have that intimate connection that happens when You have a scene partner. “What is your name?” “It's Turner, ma'am.” “Oh, Turner. Well, I'm glad I can trust someone around here, Turner. When was the last time you had family come visit you? “Oh, um, well.” “You know, I came all this way. And I can't hug Ellwood, so I guess you'll have to. And it's interesting that Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who has so much experience, to be put in this process where she has to look and act directly toward and toward the lens. “What are you all feeding? You can't muster a bigger hug than that. You know, I'll remember that next time, Turner.” Which means he has one. feeling of loneliness and inability, again, having that human touch and that eye contact that actors rely on so much. And so Aunjanue ends up, she says, in retrospect, turning that loneliness and that isolation into the character Hattie, who feels very similarly, being in the middle of this place without her grandson and having no one to turn to. “Thank you so much.” And I think it really pays dividends in performance.
