Ellie Kemper

[petitesuite]

Sept 22, 2015 15:10:47 GMT -4 kostgard said:

I think she's good as Kimmy, but her co-stars are killing it. Jane Krakowski is basically playing Jenna from 30 Rock if she were a trophy wife rather than an actress, but she's a genius at that kind of role. And Tituss Burgess is just hitting it out of the park in a great role written with him in mind.

I agree, plus I think the role of Kimmy is one where its successes are measured in its absences if that makes sense--like, Kemper's real accomplishment is that Kimmy ISN'T annoying as hell but that kind of thing stands out way less than Burgess' really performative comic brilliance.

[mochakitty]

Ellie at the 2017 Screen Actors Guild Awards (January 29th, Los Angeles):

Close-up

Full Length Shot

FYI: Ellie is wearing a Wai Ming gown, Giuseppe Zanotti shoes, a Judith Leiber clutch, and Forevermark Diamonds jewelry.

[Carolina]

She looks fab and she knows it:)

[mrspickles]

I just sighed out loud when I saw that picture. She looks amazing.

[Ripley]

Is that velvet? It's a beautiful shade of blue.

[Spinderella]

She looks sensational. Perfectly flawless and styled. Does Rachel Zoe still do styling? Because it seems very Rachel Zoe.

[americanchai]

I can't stand her and think she looks awful. She looks like she just got out of the shower and threw a towel over herself.

[Ladybug]

So, Ellie made a little news over the weekend, and probably not the kind she wanted. Here's a summary of what went down. The person who started this up on Twitter referred to her as a "KKK pageant queen." This is the story in the Atlantic about the Veiled Prophet organization, which is definitely racist in origins but not affiliated w/ the KKK. I guess people weren't aware that she was from a super rich family in Saint Louis (rich enough to have art museums and stadiums named after them) and was a deb? I remember reading this in a bio of her but didn't know the background of the organization.

ETA - Here's another rundown of this.

[Ginger]

To echo a commenter on Oh NO They Didn't: "I feel like I'm high AF reading this".

The (former) organization name evokes imagery of more sinister organizations, but there doesn't seem to be any actual connection. According to Newsweek, the organization was integrated two decades before Ellie won their weird pageant, so it's sort of like joining a country club that used to be restricted.

I knew that Ellie played lacrosse, went to Princeton, studied at Oxford for a year, and is supposedly a devout Catholic. She published a book of personal essays and the review I read said she came up with nothing interesting or funny out of her dull and uneventful upbringing. Sounds like The Veiled Prophet pageant could have made for an interesting chapter.

[kostgard]

I kinda feel like the reaction to this is...I don't know, a bit much or naive?

I'm not saying it's cool, I'm just saying that absolutely no one should be surprised that a wealthy white family, especially from a Southern-ish state (I know Missouri is one of those states that is kinda Southern, but also kinda Midwest) that still has their daughter participate in debutante balls in 1999 is involved in a group that has racist roots. I mean, look at just about every country club in this nation. I don't think she should be "canceled" over this - she was 19, this is probably just "what was done" in her family without anyone really thinking about what it meant, and doesn't seem to reflect her current beliefs (now, if she got her child involved in such a ball, then...yeah).

I'm hoping most of the surprise is coming from people not realizing she came from a wealthy family. Because this absolutely still goes on and has gone on since this country started.