Nelsan Ellis Modeled His 'True Blood' Lafayette Character After His Mother (VIDEO)

Nelsan Ellis said Monday on 'The Talk' (weekdays, syndicated on CBS) that people sometimes think he is his 'True Blood' character, Lafayette Reynolds. There are some big differences, including the fact that Lafayette is gay and Ellis is straight. But Ellis shared that there is a little of the Ellis family tree represented in Lafayette.

Sara Gilbert asked if people sometimes mistook Ellis for his character. "They do," he said, smiling. "Gay is just one part of Lafayette. People think that I'm everything that encompasses Lafayette, which is a lot. I'm too boring as Nelsan." His mother, who recently passed away, was apparently not boring at all. She never saw the show, but Ellis said she and Lafayette had a lot in common.

Ellis said his mother wore head wraps, and that she was sassy, sexy and had flair. "So I just modeled Lafayette after her," he said. "My mother was a tomboy. My mother was masculine, she was feminine. And those are the things that Lafayette is." Hopefully she never had to deal with vampires.