True Blood & Get On Up actor Nelsan Ellis has passed away at 39

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Actor Nelsan Ellis – known for his roles on the hit HBO show TRUE BLOOD and movies like GET ON UP – has passed at the young age of 39. The result of the star's shocking passing was due to complications from heart failure.

Having earned his Bachelor's in Fine Arts from Juilliard in 2004, Ellis’ most memorable role was that of Lafayette Reynolds on BLOOD, quickly becoming one of the stand-out characters on the immensely popular show. As for more TV work Ellis also found success on the hit show ELEMENTARY as Shinwell Johnson. On top of that Ellis also made a name for himself in the world of movies, starring in major films like THE HELP, GET ON UP as Bobby Byrd, and in Lee Daniels’ THE BUTLER as Martin Luther King Jr.

HBO put out a statement after news broke of the actor’s passing saying, “We were extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Nelsan Ellis. Nelsan was a long-time member of the HBO family whose groundbreaking portrayal of Lafayette will be remembered fondly within the overall legacy of ‘TRUE BLOOD. Nelsan will be dearly missed by his fans and all of us at HBO.”

Fellow actors have taken to social media to honor Ellis, with BLOOD actors Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer and Joe Manganiello remembering their co-star fondly, with THE HELP’s Jessica Chastain and GET ON UP’s Chadwick Boseman also offering kind words.

It was an utter privilege to work with the phenomenally talented and deeply kind soul .@OfficialNelsan I'm devastated by his untimely death. pic.twitter.com/If17csduHz

— Anna Paquin (@AnnaPaquin) July 8, 2017

Nelsan Ellis was truly remarkable. A brilliant, charismatic, intelligent, soulful, wonderful dude. this is just completely tragic.

— Stephen Moyer (@smoyer) July 8, 2017

Crushed today by the loss of my friend and castmate Nelsan Ellis. He was a wonderful person, a pioneer, and a one of a kind artist. RIP pic.twitter.com/fvtquhIac7

— Joe Manganiello (@JoeManganiello) July 8, 2017

We didnt even scratch the surface of seeing what this artist was capable of. My love to the family of this spectacular man. #NelsanEllis pic.twitter.com/3DoPQZYS7p

— Jessica Chastain (@jes_chastain) July 8, 2017

 

A post shared by Chadwick Boseman (@chadwickboseman) on Jul 8, 2017 at 2:38pm PDT

Like Chastain said, there was so much more left to see Ellis accomplish, and the incredible work he had put out was only the beginning. It's always tragic when talents like this are taken from us at such a young age, and such is the case with this immensely talented performer. Luckily he left a great body of work for us to look back on and cherish, with his role on TRUE BLOOD in particular cementing his legacy.