Tanya Mosley

That was my guest today, Danielle Deadweiler, along with actor Jalen Hall and the 2022 film Till. And in that moment that we just hear, when you tell him to make himself small, then he kind of does it like a joke. He's a 14-year-old boy, like he squinches down and kind of makes fun of it.

And there is so much power in that scene, in his performance, in the performance that you give, because it's everything that you're saying in between the words, the nervous way that you fuss with his tie, the way that you're trying to save his life, casually saying these things. but you're trying to backstop something that you know is a potential.

And there is so much power in that scene, in his performance, in the performance that you give, because it's everything that you're saying in between the words, the nervous way that you fuss with his tie, the way that you're trying to save his life, casually saying these things. but you're trying to backstop something that you know is a potential.

And there is so much power in that scene, in his performance, in the performance that you give, because it's everything that you're saying in between the words, the nervous way that you fuss with his tie, the way that you're trying to save his life, casually saying these things. but you're trying to backstop something that you know is a potential.

And is it true that for the audition you submitted a real self-tape using your own son as a stand-in for this very scene?

And is it true that for the audition you submitted a real self-tape using your own son as a stand-in for this very scene?

And is it true that for the audition you submitted a real self-tape using your own son as a stand-in for this very scene?

You know, what's remarkable with this film is that you all chose to show us the interior of Mamie. And, you know, the thing about Emmett Till's story is that I think for so many Black Americans, like, he's deeply embedded in our consciousness because we know that story as a cautionary tale, but we also just learn it as a piece of history. It sparked, like, what we knew as the civil rights.

You know, what's remarkable with this film is that you all chose to show us the interior of Mamie. And, you know, the thing about Emmett Till's story is that I think for so many Black Americans, like, he's deeply embedded in our consciousness because we know that story as a cautionary tale, but we also just learn it as a piece of history. It sparked, like, what we knew as the civil rights.

You know, what's remarkable with this film is that you all chose to show us the interior of Mamie. And, you know, the thing about Emmett Till's story is that I think for so many Black Americans, like, he's deeply embedded in our consciousness because we know that story as a cautionary tale, but we also just learn it as a piece of history. It sparked, like, what we knew as the civil rights.

And how did you prepare to play her?

And how did you prepare to play her?

And how did you prepare to play her?

Did you go to that as a child? And can you talk a little bit about what that is?

Did you go to that as a child? And can you talk a little bit about what that is?

Did you go to that as a child? And can you talk a little bit about what that is?

If you're just joining us, my guest is award-winning actor Danielle Deadweiler. We'll continue our conversation after a short break. This is Fresh Air. This is Fresh Air, and today my guest is actor Danielle Dedweiler. She stars in the new film The Piano Lesson, an adaptation of August Wilson's Broadway play.

If you're just joining us, my guest is award-winning actor Danielle Deadweiler. We'll continue our conversation after a short break. This is Fresh Air. This is Fresh Air, and today my guest is actor Danielle Dedweiler. She stars in the new film The Piano Lesson, an adaptation of August Wilson's Broadway play.

If you're just joining us, my guest is award-winning actor Danielle Deadweiler. We'll continue our conversation after a short break. This is Fresh Air. This is Fresh Air, and today my guest is actor Danielle Dedweiler. She stars in the new film The Piano Lesson, an adaptation of August Wilson's Broadway play.

She's also appeared in the HBO Max dystopian series Station Eleven, Watchmen, the Netflix western The Harder They Fall, and the critically acclaimed film Till, where she portrayed Mamie, the mother of Emmett Till, whose brutal murder in the 50s became a flashpoint in the civil rights movement.