Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor Honors Her Queerness Through Red Carpet Fashion, Talks Decision to No Longer Wear Dresses

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is using her fashion to make a statement!

The Oscar-nominated actress, best known for her work in King Richard and Origin, attended the premiere of her new movie Nickel Boys on Monday night (December 16) at the DGA Theater Complex in Los Angeles.

Aunjanue was joined at the event by co-stars Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Daveed Diggs, Fred Hechinger, Hamish Linklater (with wife Lily Rabe), and Jimmie Fails, as well as writer and director RaMell Ross.

On the red carpet, Aunjanue told the AP how she uses fashion to challenge the ideas of femininity.

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“[My outfit] is Balenciaga and all of these red carpets and all these appearances that I’ve done, I’ve wanted to do something that honored my queerness, my wanting to do something that didn’t live up the expectation of femininity in these red carpet situations. I’ve wanted to push against that,” she said.

Aunjanue also told People that she has made a decision to stop wearing dresses.

“I’ve made choices about not wearing dresses, made sure I’m wearing pants all of the time,” she said. “Because I’m resisting how women have to perform. Particularly on these carpets, there’s this hyper-performance of femininity. And I’m like, ‘I don’t want to do this.’”

Nickel Boys will be released in select theaters on December 20 and will expand in January.