*This Friday, the movie “Till”, which follows Mamie Till-Mobley and her fight for justice for her son Emmett Till, who was tragically lynched back in 1955 at the age of 14, will show audiences how far this mother went in honor of her son.
Ahead of the film’s release, there was a pre-screening with the cast and invited guests, who shared their perspectives on why a movie about Mamie Till is important, especially right now.
In the film, Jalyn Hall plays 14-year-old Emmett and Hall explained how meaningful it was to explore this role and give Till a voice.
“I can’t even express how meaningful it was,” Hall told EUR’s Blair Moon in an exclusive interview. “It was an honor to be able to give a voice to a boy who essentially never had his own. At least for the world to see and they now get to see that in such a pure way and a way that you can connect with him.”
Hall also wants to remind people that playing Emmett isn’t playing a “character” because this was a real person.
“We think of this as a movie and we say character, but these are real people,” Hall said. “This was a real boy, who had dreams, hopes, nightmares just like any of us.”
Mamie Till is played by Danielle Deadwyler, who said she prepared to embody Mamie “with a multitude of resources.”
“From the academic, reading lots of theses, digging into archival footage and video and photos,” Deadwyler said. “I used the bible of her memoir. .. I lived so many days, every day on set, just reading various passages to explicate to me what she was feeling in various pivotal moments.”
Sean Patrick Thomas told us that he learned a lot about Till and his murder from his own research in preparation for the production.
“I thought that I knew everything,” Thomas said. “What I didn’t realize until I started this project is that there were black people that were helping these racists in Mississippi in 1955 kidnap and murder Emmett Till. I didn’t know that. There were black conspirators doing that. In current times we have the same thing. We have black conspirators helping racists- people like Kanye West. It’s the same thing and I didn’t realize that was going on back then in Emmett’s particular case.”
Till’s Family members were also in attendance at the screening and noted that they are still seeking justice.
“We have people that were there, who lived right there on the properties, they’ve never been interviewed,” a member of the Till family said. “They’re willing to come forward. But the judge won’t bring them forward. That’s why we’re never going to give up. Because they’ve spoken, and they’re ready to talk and he will not bring them forward.”
The Till and Evers family have a foundation titled ‘The Emmett Till Justice for Families’ in which they give updates and help other victims of crimes and racial injustice.
“Till” opens in theaters Friday, October 14th.
Watch our exclusive conversation with the cast below.
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