AS A SPELMAN COLLEGE HISTORY MAJOR who also holds a master’s degree in American studies from Columbia University, Danielle Deadwyler has a soft spot for period pieces. It’s what has inspired the Atlanta-based actress and performance artist to star in films like the 19th-century western The Harder They Fall and the critically acclaimed biopic Till, about the tragic murder of Emmett Till. She’s also currently in preproduction for Otis & Zelma, an upcoming film costarring John Boyega about the lives of soul singer Otis Redding and his wife Zelma. “As someone who’s been reared in the South, I have to tell the full gamut of our stories,” she tells me over tea in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. “That’s what I’m interested in.”
This story is from the December 2024 - January 2025 edition of ELLE US.
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This story is from the December 2024 - January 2025 edition of ELLE US.
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