Danielle DEADWYLER

The Piano Lesson star is highlighting Black history through her film roles.

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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.”