When the script for "The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat" landed on Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor's desk, she jumped at the chance to star in the period drama. Despite a career spanning three decades, it's rare for Ellis-Taylor to be cast in projects that pass the Bechdel Test. "The Supremes," which premiered Wednesday night at the Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival (MVAFF), is based on the best-selling novel by Edward Kelsey Moore. Directed by Tina Mabry, the film offered Ellis-Taylor and her castmates, Sanaa Lathan and Uzo Aduba, a chance to take part in something rarely seen on screen.
THE SUPREMES AT EARL'S ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT | Official Trailer | Searchlight Pictures
“There’s a lack of curiosity about black women, about black women’s lives. A lack of interest and a lack of care,” says Ellis-Taylor, who is at the festival with Variety. “[The Supremes]” is a rebellion against that.”
Set in a small southern town, the film follows friends Odette (Ellis-Taylor), Clarice (Aduba), and Barbara Jean (Lathan) as they navigate life’s joys and sorrows while clinging to their friendship until a series of tragedies threatens to tear them apart in middle age.
When Mabry (“Mississippi Damned”) first heard about the film, which follows the women over 30 years, she was intrigued.
