Danielle Deadwyler, 40, has known Mamie Till-Mobley's story for most of her life.

A self-described "child of Atlanta," the actor first recalls first learning about Till-Mobley — and her lifelong quest for justice after the 1955 lynching murder of her 14-year-old son, Emmett — as early as elementary school. But even that long-held awareness didn't prepare Deadwyler for the emotions she felt when she first read writer-director Chinonye Chukwu's script for Till.