Jayme Lawson, Frankie Faison, Tosin Cole, & Sean Patrick Thomas Among Seven To Round Out Cast For Chinonye Chukwu Feature ‘Till’
Deadline is reporting that Jayme Lawson (The Batman), Frankie Faison (The Wire), Tosin Cole (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), Kevin Carroll (The Leftovers), Sean Patrick Thomas (Barbershop), John Douglas Thompson (Mare of Easttown) and Roger Guenveur Smith (Self Made: Inspired by the Life Of Madam C.J Walker) will join Danielle Deadwyler, Whoopi Goldberg and Jalyn Hall in Chinonye Chukwu’s feature Orion Pictures release, Till about Emmett Louis Till. The movie is currently filming in Atlanta.
Till tells the story of Mamie Till-Mobley (Deadwyler), whose pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son Emmett Louis Till (Hall) became a galvanizing moment that helped lead to the creation of the civil rights movement. As Time Magazine reported, “…thanks to a mother’s determination to expose the barbarousness of the crime, the public could no longer pretend to ignore what they couldn’t see.” Mamie’s decision to have an open casket at Emmett’s funeral, and to have Jet magazine publish David Jackson’s funeral photos, was driven by her motivation to ensure people everywhere knew what had happened to her son. As previously announced Goldberg is playing Emmett’s grandmother Alma Spearman.
The screenplay is written by Chukwu based on a previous draft by Keith Beauchamp and Michael J P Reilly. Producers are Beauchamp, Barbara Broccoli, Goldberg, Thomas K Levine, Michael J P Reilly and Frederick Zollo. Till is based on Beauchamp’s original research which he conducted for his award winning 2005 documentary The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till.
Faison, who plays John Carthan, is best known for his work in The Wire, Banshee, Coming to America, and Do The Right Thing. He can currently be seen in Killing Of Kenneth Chamberlain executive produced by Morgan Freeman. He recently finished filming an NBC pilot, Someone Out There, alongside Gabrielle Dennis, and was last seen in the Amazon feature I’m Your Woman, and the Kevin Hart comedy Fatherhood for Netflix.
Lawson will portray Myrlie Evers. Lawson stars in Warner Bros. upcoming Batman movie next year. Other features include the drama Farewell Amor and Showtime limited series The First Lady as Michelle Obama.
Cole plays Medgar Evers. Previous feature credits include Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Burning Sands. He will next be seen in debbie tucker green’s feature, Ear for Eye, the LeBron James produced remake of House Party and AMC’s 61st Street in leading roles.
Carroll is set to portray Rayfield Mooty. Carroll starred on HBO’s The Leftovers and FX’s Snowfall as well as the movies Blindspotting, Being John Malkovich, and Paid in Full, and television series such as Self-Made and The Walking Dead. He is repped by Josiah Akinyele at Innovative Artists and Susanna Griffith Talent
Thomas is Gene Mobley in Till. Thomas stars in Joel Cohen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand as well as a recurring role in For All Mankind on Apple+. His previous film credits include Barbershop, The Fountain, Honeydripper, Cruel Intentions, Halloween: Resurrection and Save The Last Dance. He is represented by Innovative Artists and McKeon/Myones Entertainment.
Thompson is Moses Wright. Credits on Broadway include King Lear, Carousel, Julius Caesar, Jitney and The Iceman Cometh. His television and film credits include Mare Of Easttown, The Gilded Age, For Life, The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks, and in film, 355, Let Them All Talk, 21 Bridges, Wolves, The Bourne Legacy and Glass Chin.
Smith will play Dr. T.R. M. Howard. Recent work includes recurring opposite Octavia Spencer in the Netflix limited series Self Made: Inspired by the Life of Madam C.J. Walker , a starring role opposite Meta Golding in Behind the Movement, and his adaptation of the acclaimed Rodney King, directed by Spike Lee, currently streaming on Netflix.
Orion Pictures’ feature film slate includes Billy Porter’s upcoming directorial debut, Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, Emma Seligman’s Bottoms, and a film adaptation of Michelle Zauner’s NY Times best-selling memoir Crying in H Mart, which Zauner will adapt for the screen.