‘My Heart Aches’ for ‘Origin’ Star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor

Ava DuVernay is speaking out on “Origin” lead star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor’s grassroots marketing campaign for the film.

DuVernay posted an Instagram video showing Ellis-Taylor handing out flyers for “Origin” at a Los Angeles AMC theater on Sunday, January 7, the same day as the Golden Globes. To note, “Origin” was not nominated during the awards show, and neither DuVernay nor Ellis-Taylor were in attendance.

“Someone posted this footage, and I burst into tears. This was apparently taken last Sunday, Golden Globes day. This is a video of Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Our lead actress in ‘Origin.’ She wasn’t nominated that day,” DuVernay wrote. “She was handing out postcards for our film at a local AMC in LA to passersby. She had told me that she wanted to remind herself about what matters. That she wanted to invite people to see our work, and that she would stay low profile, keep on her mask. That it wasn’t about her, but about the movie. Someone noticed her. And recorded her. And now I see this – and my heart aches.”

DuVernay continued, “I wish she didn’t have to do this to remind herself. I wish she was at the Globes or SAG Awards or Critics Choice or the other nominations that didn’t come. I wish she had commercials and magazine covers and all the things that are arranged for the actresses we are supposed to pay attention to in the awards season. I wish she felt the recognition and praise that swirls around her peers in…