Danielle Deadwyler facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Danielle Deadwyler
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Deadwyler at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
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| Born | May 3, 1982 |
| Education | Spelman College (BA) Columbia University (MA) Ashland University (MFA) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Children | 1 |
Danielle Deadwyler (born May 3, 1982) is an American actress. She started her acting journey in theater plays in Atlanta, Georgia. Later, she moved into movies and TV shows. Her first screen role was in the 2012 drama film A Cross to Bear.
Danielle has appeared in popular TV shows like The Haves and the Have Nots (2015–2017), P-Valley (2020), and miniseries such as Station Eleven (2021–2022) and From Scratch (2022).
She has received great praise for her roles in the western movie The Harder They Fall (2021), the true-story drama Till (2022), and the drama The Piano Lesson (2024). Her performance as Mamie Till in Till and a struggling mother in The Piano Lesson earned her many awards and nominations, including a nomination for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.
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About Danielle Deadwyler
Danielle Deadwyler was born and grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. Her mother was a legal secretary, and her father worked for the railroad. She has three brothers and sisters. Danielle went to Grady High School (now Midtown High School). After high school, she studied at Spelman College. She also earned two master's degrees: one from Columbia University and another in creative writing from Ashland University in 2017.
Her Acting Journey
Starting in Theater and TV (2009–2020)
Danielle began her career acting in plays on stage. Some of her early plays included Charlotte's Web and The Real Tweenagers of Atlanta. Critics really liked her main role in the The C.A. Lyons Project at the Alliance Theatre.
Her first movie role was in 2012, playing a homeless mother in the drama A Cross to Bear. After that, she acted in several short films before getting roles on television.
In 2015, Danielle appeared in the TV drama Being Mary Jane. Later that year, she joined the cast of Tyler Perry’s series The Haves and the Have Nots, where she played a character named LaQuita "Quita" Maxwell. She also had smaller roles in movies like Gifted and The Leisure Seeker. You might have also seen her in TV shows such as Greenleaf, Atlanta, and Watchmen.
In 2018, Danielle played the main character Jane Manning James in the historical drama film Jane and Emma. She also starred in and helped produce the 2019 thriller movie The Devil To Pay. Critics praised both the film and Danielle's acting. One critic from The Guardian said that Danielle's "soulful performance" really made the movie strong.
In 2020, Danielle got a regular role in the series Paradise Lost. That same year, she appeared in FBI: Most Wanted and had a repeating role as Yoli in the series P-Valley.
Big Roles and Recognition (2021–Present)
In 2021, Danielle played the character Cuffee in the Netflix western movie The Harder They Fall. Her character was inspired by a real person named Cathay Williams. Both the movie and Danielle's performance received excellent reviews. She was nominated for a NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture and won several awards for being part of the best cast.
Later in 2021, she played Miranda Carroll in the miniseries Station Eleven. Also that year, Danielle was in the Netflix miniseries From Scratch, which was based on a true story. She played the older sister of the main character and received good reviews for her work.
Danielle starred as Mamie Till in the true-story film Till (2022), directed by Chinonye Chukwu. She received amazing reviews for her lead role in this movie. A critic from The New York Times said that Danielle's performance as Mamie was "quiet, centralizing" and worked well with the movie's serious and powerful story. For this role, Danielle won the National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance and the Gotham Independent Film Award for Outstanding Lead Performance.
In 2024, Danielle played the main role in the science fiction thriller Parallel. She also starred in the horror-thriller film I Saw the TV Glow, which was shown at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and received positive reviews. Danielle also appeared in The Piano Lesson, a movie based on a famous play, and in the Canadian thriller 40 Acres.
You can also see Danielle in the action thriller Carry-On for Netflix. She will also star in the upcoming horror film The Woman in the Yard. Danielle is also set to produce and star in a comedic thriller called The Saviors. Plus, she has been chosen to play Zelma Redding, the wife of famous singer Otis Redding, in a movie about their lives called Otis and Zelma.
Notable Works
Here are some of Danielle Deadwyler's most well-known roles:
- Film:
- A Cross to Bear (2012)
- The Devil to Pay (2019)
- The Harder They Fall (2021)
- Till (2022)
- The Piano Lesson (2024)
- Television:
- The Haves and the Have Nots (2015–2017)
- P-Valley (2020)
- Station Eleven (2021–2022)
- From Scratch (2022)
Awards and Recognition
Danielle Deadwyler has won and been nominated for many awards for her acting. Some of her key awards include:
- 2020: Won Best Actress at the GenreBlast Film Festival for The Devil to Pay.
- 2021: Won a Princess Grace Award for her filmmaking.
- 2021: Won the Gotham Awards Ensemble Tribute and National Board of Review Award for Best Cast for The Harder They Fall.
- 2022: Won the Gotham Independent Film Award for Outstanding Lead Performance and National Board of Review Award for Breakthrough Performance for her role in Till.
- 2023: Won the Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama and Black Reel Award for Outstanding Actress for Till. She was also nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for Till.
- 2024: Won Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress and Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Piano Lesson. She was also honored with the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Ensemble Cast for The Piano Lesson.
Images for kids
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Danielle Deadwyler at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
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Danielle Deadwyler in 2023
See also
In Spanish: Danielle Deadwyler para niños
