Danielle Deadwyler
Danielle Deadwyler is an American actress. Deadwyler received critical acclaim for her performances in the western film The Harder They Fall, for starring as Mamie Till in the biographical drama Till, and for starring as a conflicted mother in the drama The [Piano Lesson (2024 film)|The Piano Lesson]. For her performance in the former, she received nominations for the Best Actress in a Leading Role|BAFTA Award for Best Actress] and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role. For her performance in The Piano Lesson, she earned nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.
In 2025, Time magazine named Deadwyler one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
She began her career as a theatre actress in Atlanta, Georgia. Deadwyler then transitioned to film and television roles and made her screen debut in the 2012 drama film A Cross to Bear. She appeared in the primetime soap opera The Haves and the Have Nots, the drama series P-Valley, and the miniseries Station Eleven and From Scratch.
Early life
Deadwyler was born on May 3, 1982, in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in Southwest Atlanta. She is the daughter of a legal secretary and a railroad supervisor and has three siblings. Deadwyler graduated from Grady High School and then Spelman College with an undergraduate degree in History and African American Studies. She received a Master's of Arts in American Studies from Columbia University and another master's degree in creative writing at Ashland University in 2017.Career
Early career and stage work
Deadwyler began her career appearing on stage productions, including Charlotte's Web, The Real Tweenagers of Atlanta, and most notable playing the role of Lady in Yellow in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf at the True Colors Theater in Atlanta in 2009. Deadwyler received positive reviews for leading performance in Alliance Theatre's The C.A. Lyons Project. On Atlanta stage, she appeared in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Clybourne Park at Aurora Theater, portrayed an actress injured doing Shakespeare in Smart People at True Colors Theater, and played multiple roles in The Temple Bombing at the Alliance Theater.2012–2020: Film debut and television roles
Deadwyler made her film debut playing the leading role of a homeless, alcoholic mother in the 2012 drama A Cross to Bear directed by Tandria Potts. Deadwyler later acted in a number of short films, then landed roles on television. In 2015, Deadwyler guest-starred in the second season of BET's drama series Being Mary Jane. Later that year, she joined the cast of Tyler Perry's series The Haves and the Have Nots, playing antagonist LaQuita "Quita" Maxwell. Deadwyler left the series during Season 4. Eventually, she had secondary roles in the films Gifted and The Leisure Seeker, and appeared in the television series Greenleaf, Atlanta and Watchmen. In 2018, Deadwyler played the title role of Jane Manning James in the period drama film Jane and Emma. She played a leading role and produced the 2019 thriller film The Devil To Pay. The film and Deadwyler's performance received positive reviews from critics. Cath Clarke from The Guardian wrote in her review: "Deadwyler's soulful performance really grounds The Devil to Pay even as it cranks into revenge-movie mode." In 2020, Deadwyler was cast in a series regular role in the series Paradise Lost, with Josh Hartnett, Bridget Regan and Barbara Hershey. The series was not renewed for a second season. That same year, Deadwyler guest-starred on FBI: Most Wanted and had a recurring role as Yoli in the series P-Valley.2021–2022: Breakthrough with ''The Harder They Fall'' and ''Till''
In 2021, Deadwyler played the role of Cuffee in the Netflix western film The Harder They Fall. The character was inspired by Cathay Williams. The film and her performance received positive reviews from film critics. Deadwyler received an NAACP Image Award for [Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture] nomination for her performance and well as number of Best Ensemble awards. Later that year, Deadwyler played Miranda Carroll in the miniseries Station Eleven. Also that year, she was in the Netflix miniseries From Scratch, based on Tembi Locke's memoir. Deadwyler played the role of lead character' older sister, receiving positive reviews.In 2022, Deadwyler starred as Mamie Till in the biographical film Till directed by Chinonye Chukwu. She received positive reviews from critics for her lead performance in the movie. Manohla Dargis in The New York Times: "With fixed intensity and supple quicksilver emotional changes, Deadwyler rises to the occasion as Mamie, delivering a quiet, centralizing performance that works contrapuntally with the story's heaviness, its profundity and violence." Deadwyler received the National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance and the Gotham Independent Film Award for Outstanding Lead Performance for her performance.
2023–present: Continued success
In 2024, Deadwyler played the leading role in the science fiction thriller film Parallel directed by Kourosh Ahari, a remake of Lei Zheng's feature of the same name. She starred in the horror-thriller film I Saw the TV Glow, which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews from critics. Deadwyler also starred in The Piano Lesson, an adaptation of the August Wilson play, and in the Canadian post-apocalyptic thriller film 40 Acres. For The Piano Lesson, Deadwyler earned her second Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination in the Supporting Actress category, her first having been in Leading Actress for her role in Till. Her guest appearance as Syd's cousin Chantel on The Bear episode "Worms" was positively received, with Rolling Stone critic Alan Sepinwall describing Deadwyler, "one of most chameleonic actors we have," as having disappeared into the "relaxed, confident, funny role." Deadwyler appeared in the action thriller Carry-On for Netflix. She also starred in the horror film The Woman in the Yard. Both films were directed by Jaume Collet-Serra.Time magazine named Deadwyler one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2025.