Whoopi Goldberg and Danielle Deadwyler (Tyler Perry’s The Haves & The Have Nots) are set to star in Chinonye Chukwu’s upcoming film Till. The film will revolve around the fight for justice Mamie Till-Mobley took for her son Emmit Louis Till after his untimely and horrific murder. Goldberg will play Till’s grandmother, Alma Carthan, while Deadwyler will play Till’s mother. Goldberg will also serve as a producer for the film for MGM’s Orion Pictures along with alongside Keith Beauchamp, Barbara Broccoli, Thomas K. Levine, Michael JP Reilly and Frederick Zollo.
“We have waited a very long time to bring this historically necessary important film to people,” Goldberg said. “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.”
Till chronicles Mamie’s controversial decision to have an open casket at Emmett’s funeral and ultimately allowing Jet magazine publish David Jackson’s funeral photos, in order to ensure people everywhere saw the true horrors of her son’s murder. The decision from the grieving mother was a galvanizing moment that led to the creation of the civil rights movement.
Chukwu, whose film Clemency won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival 2019, also penned the script for Till based on a previous draft by Keith Beauchamp and Michael J P Reilly. Beauchamp conducted a host of the research used for the script his award winning 2005 documentary The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till. Production will begin in Atlanta, GA in September.
Deadwyler is most known for her starring in HBO’s Emmy winning series Watchmen, HBO Max’s Station Eleven and Spectrum’s Paradise Lost. Goldberg, who is currently a host on ABC’s the view, has had a decades long career in Hollywood. Goldberg most prized films include The Color Purple, Sister Act , Ghosts of Mississippi and Ghost for which she won the Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars for in 1990.
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