Get a Hug From Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in ‘Nickel Boys’

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A brief encounter has emotional weight in this scene from “Nickel Boys,” the drama directed by RaMell Ross that has been nominated for two Oscars: best picture and adapted screenplay.

The scene primarily involves the character Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), who has come to visit her grandson, Elwood, at the reform school Nickel Academy, where the boy has been sent unjustly. But Hattie is not allowed to see Elwood and, while on the grounds, comes in contact with another boy, Turner. That character is played by Brandon Wilson, and because the film is depicted from the point of view of its two main characters, this scene is from the perspective of Turner. He is essentially the camera, so when Hattie is speaking to him, she is looking right into the lens.

It makes for an intimate scene, particularly when Hattie hugs Turner, since she isn’t able to hug her grandson. It’s like Hattie is hugging the entire audience, but more so, you, as you watch. On the technical side, the hug is a move made by the camera operator, Sam Ellison, that mimics where the head and the gaze would go, rather than Ellis-Taylor actually wrapping her arms around the cameraman.

In his narration, Ross said that by having Ellis-Taylor play this moment directly to the lens, she is “unable to have that intimate connection that happens when you have a scene partner.”

But Ross said that Ellis-Taylor used that sense of isolation and channeled it into the character, “who is feeling very similarly, being out in the middle of this place without her grandson and having no one to turn to. I think that it really pays dividends in the performance.”

Read the “Nickel Boys” review.

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