Aunjanue Ellis and Will Smith first acted as the parents of Venus and Serena Williams in King Richard years before the sister athletes both became tennis pros.
Ellis got her first Academy Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category, and as part of PEOPLE’s 2022 Oscars portfolio in this week’s issue, she shares what she took away from working with Smith, 53.
“It’s very holistic with him, you know, who he is on camera with Richard Williams and how much he doted on those girls was how he doted on those girls when we weren’t shooting,” she recalls. “They fell in love with him, ’cause it’s easy to do. It was great.”
“What surprised me most about him was the first day that I went into rehearsal with him, he had Post-It notes of every scene broken down of the entire movie. … I just thought, ‘He doesn’t have to do that,’ ” adds Ellis of Smith. “It just shows his level of commitment even at this stage of his career. I was so impressed by that.”
“The other thing that I loved about him and the experience of working with him is that it’s an education in how to be a great superstar, how to be a great movie star,” she continues, “but with him, it’s really an education in how to be a great man. That’s not celebrated enough.”
“I have had a good time these last couple weeks,” she said. “I didn’t expect that I would go to these events and win or lose. I’m like, ‘Oh, this is fun.”
Adapted from the people.
