Even when True Blood struggled to recapture the sexy/campy/quality ratio that made the early seasons so watchable, you could always count on one thing: for LaFayette to be one of the best characters on the show. He was certainly the most quotable, dishing out meals at Bellefleur’s Bar and Grill and eternally sassy one-liners like, “Wrong place at the wrong f*cking time oughta be my middle f*cking name” and “I ain’t Gmail for dead b*tches.”
That’s what makes it so sad — and frankly, shocking — that actor Nelsan Ellis has passed away after complications with heart failure at age 39.
True Blood creator Alan Ball called him a “singular talent whose creativity never ceased to amaze me,” while HBO praised Ellis for being “a long-time member of the HBO family whose groundbreaking portrayal of Lafayette will be remembered fondly within the overall legacy of True Blood.” (Lafayette is one of the few proudly gay black characters in television history.) Fans of the hit vampire series, which aired for 70 episodes over seven seasons, as well as Ellis’ other work, including roles in The Butler, The Help, and The Stanford Prison Experiment, are paying tribute to the late actor on Twitter.
Nelsan Ellis gave us the best character on True Blood, Lafayette. RIP pic.twitter.com/FcnpFhM66b
— big thumb head bitch (@_effyouSaybruhh) July 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/chrissahardy/status/883763081024724992
Devestated to hear that Nelsan Ellis is no longer with us. He made Lafayette in True Blood iconic. His amazing talent will be missed.
— Starfury Conventions (@starfuryevents) July 8, 2017
Nelsan Ellis was an absolute force. His talent out shown everyone he was around and I'm absolutely saddened by his passing #RIP pic.twitter.com/awnw1S0uc3
— Erica Jordan (@TheNYCFilmChick) July 8, 2017
Lafayette IS True Blood, l don't know where the show would have been w/o him. Thank you Nelsan Ellis 💔🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/3txTdGjaga
— B. (@bnicole322) July 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/FATHERBONNET/status/883766814643191808
RIP Ellis, AKA Lafayette from True Blood, a great queer, black TV character https://t.co/hglnNnpNKL
— 𝚑𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌 𝚙𝚒𝚡𝚒𝚎 𝚍𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 🍉 (@mathewrodriguez) July 8, 2017
His portrayal of Lafayette is what made True Blood relevant much of the time. He will truly be missed https://t.co/Zl44JQyopH
— Prancy Drew 🕵🏾♀️ (@porsheaknows) July 8, 2017
I am so sad. Nelsan was such a lovely person. Thoughts going out to home family. https://t.co/uuKf73joUP
— Felicia Day🇺🇸 (@feliciaday) July 8, 2017
There’s one scene in particular that defined everything great about Lafayette.
https://twitter.com/allanbrocka/status/883769845401010176
https://twitter.com/shootmeadub/status/883770824552988673
My other favorite scene of #NelsanEllis as Lafayette on #TrueBlood.
Hell, one of the best scenes from ANY TV show: https://t.co/gI7ytAQa95
— hellresidentNY 🖤 (@hellresidentNY) July 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/aherman2006/status/883768269127073792
