“Mystery Figure”: King Richard Actress Makes Startling Revelation About Venus and Serena Williams’ Mother

A movie that’s based on a family’s struggle to provide the best to their daughters and see them conquer the tennis world, King Richard , the story of Venus and Serena Williams portrayed through the lest of their father, Richard, opened to wide-spread appreciation and applause from the audience.

Despite the title suggesting the movie would be all about Richard Williams, it’s rather the journey of the Williams household, led by the commander in-charge, Oracene Price.

‘King Richard’ actress mentions the struggle of Oracene Price

While it was Richard who openly dreamed of making Venus and Serena the future tennis icons, Oracene’s contribution to their game was immense. In one of the scenes, Aunjanue Ellis, who depicts the role of Oracene has a subtle argument with Richard over how she fixed young Serena’s serve.

“I fixed Serena’s serve because you messed that up”.

Conversing with Jimmy Kimmel on his show, Ellis, who is expected to receive an Oscar nomination for her performance in King Richard, talked about the experience.

“She was as much as their coach as Mr. Williams was their coach. He would be on one side of the court and Miss Oracene would be on the other side of the court”, explains the actress.

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From Ellis’ explanation, it appeared evident that King Richard‘s writers made sure to give significant importance to both the parents and depict their struggle on-screen. Having to learn to play tennis for the movie, Ellis remarked that she couldn’t love the sport as yet.

“I mean, I’m not a tennis fan but I’m a Venus and Serena fan”, the actress mentioned as the crowd roared with applause.

Oracene played a significant part alongside Richard in shaping up Venus and Serena Williams

In the end, Aunjanue Ellis was glad that film-makers of King Richard chose to give equal space to the struggle of Oracene Price along with that of Richard.

“Particularly with Miss Oracene, I felt that she was someone that everyone saw in the stands at Wimbledon, at the US Open, you know, with those beautiful shades on, kind of a mystery figure that was there clapping for Venus and Serena”. 

Ellis continued, “But, no one really knows her story, you know, and I just love that  all these filmmakers came together and they said we want to tell the truth about this woman”.

Right from its journey across film-festivals and early premiers, King Richard proved that it has mettle to drive not just tennis fans but also regular audience to the theaters and give them an opportunity to witness the formative years of two of women’s tennis’ global icons – Venus and Serena Williams.

Along with the theatrical release, King Richard is also released on the streaming platform, HBO Max.

Also read: All You Need to Know About Venus and Serena Williams’ Mother, Oracene Price