Danielle Deadwyler has landed the role of Mamie Till-Mobley in the upcoming film, Till. Joining Deadwyler, Whoopi Goldberg will play the supporting role of Alma Carthan, Emmett Till’s grandmother. Directed by Chinonye Chukwu, the movie follow Till-Mobley’s search for justice after her son was savagely murdered at the age of 14 years old in Money, Mississippi.
“We have waited a very long time to bring this historically necessary important film to people,” Goldberg told Variety about the importance of the film.
“And as we watch the repression of American History when it comes to people of color it makes it even that more important. I couldn’t be with better people: Fred, Barbara, Chinonye, Keith, Michael and Danielle.”
This is Deadwyler’s first leading role in a major film. Over the last decade, she’s built up a resume of appearances in Atlanta, Greenleaf and Being Mary Jane. Most notably, she played the role of June in the critically-acclaimed series, Watchmen.
“I am charged with humility and great will to embody her life at such an integral moment of personal tragedy and political rebellion, a boon to the civil rights movement, and to represent the joy in the love and life shared between Mamie Till and her beloved Emmett Till,” Deadwyler said.
“I am grateful for the women who support me as the one to carry the labor of this embodiment and as an inheritor of such a lineage. Much gratitude for Chinonye Chukwu, Barbara Broccoli, Whoopi Goldberg, Alana Mayo, and Pam Abdy, amongst many others, for the undertaking we seek to uplift and transfigure with this film.”
Moving forward, Chukwu will begin principal photography for the film in September.
