Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Says Will Smith Had Intense Work Ethic onKing Richard: ‘Index Cards All Over the Place’ (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Will Smith and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in 2022.Photo:Mike Coppola/Getty

Mike Coppola/Getty

ForAunjanue Ellis-Taylor, costars don’t get much better thanWill Smith.

On the set of the 2021 sports biopicKing Richard, about a youngVenusandSerena Williamsand their father and tennis coachRichard Williams, Ellis-Taylor, 55, recalls an intense work ethic from her onscreen husband.

“I’ve heard him talk about his work ethic and his feeling like he may not be the best actor,” she says. “But he’s like, ‘Nobody is going to beat me working hard.’ And that has stayed with me.”

Smith, 56, ledKing Richardas both producer and star, withReinaldo Marcus Greenin the director’s chair and screenwriter Zach Baylin penning the biopic. In addition toearning its real-life subjects’ praise, it was nominated at the 2022Academy Awardsfor six Oscars including Best Picture and Ellis-Taylor’s supporting performance as the Williams sisters’motherOracene “Brandy” Price — with Smithwinning as lead actor.

“First day of our reading the script,” Ellis-Taylor remembers, Smith “just immediately walked in the door” prepared for the shoot ahead. “I mean, index cards all over the place, his breaking down his character, breaking down the film. Just granular stuff, just extraordinary.”

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Will Smith in ‘King Richard’.Chiabella James /Warner Bros. /Courtesy Everett Collection

Chiabella James /Warner Bros. /Courtesy Everett Collection

Plus, “setting that example” as number one on the call sheet was clearly a priority for Smith, she says — “beyond that, being so incredibly kind to everybody, and not allowing anybody to be mistreated in his sight.”

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Ellis-Taylor has taken Smith’s example of kindness and hard work into her many projects since, which includeAva DuVernay’sOrigin, Tina Mabry’sThe Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat,Lee Daniels’The Deliveranceand Titus Kaphar’sExhibiting Forgiveness. Her supporting performance in RaMell Ross’Nickel Boys(in theaters now), the screen adaptation of Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning historical novel, is nownominatedfor a Critics Choice Award.

Of course, another old costar —Jamie Foxxin 2004 Ray Charles biopicRay— also continues to inspire Ellis-Taylor. “With Jamie and Will, talk about dedication and commitment to the job at hand,” she says. “Both of them have that.”

Nickel Boys, which costars Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger and Daveed Diggs, is in theaters as of Dec. 14. Among Ellis-Taylor’s upcoming projects is the movie adaptation of Todd Connor’s autobiographical novelLiz Here Now.

source: people.com