Entertainment Movies 'Till' 's Danielle Deadwyler on Seeking Therapy While Filming the Emotional Drama: 'I Was Prepared for Everything' "I gotta be a Black mother for the rest of my life," Danielle Deadwyler said on the PEOPLE Every Day podcast of separating herself from the role of activist and Emmett Till's mother Mamie Till-Mobley By Glenn Garner Glenn Garner Glenn Garner is a form writer-reporter who worked heavily with PEOPLE's Movies and TV verticals. He left PEOPLE in 2023. People Editorial Guidelines Published on October 28, 2022 05:17PM EDT Danielle Deadwyler in Till. Photo: Lynsey Weatherspoon / Orion Pictures Danielle Deadwyler knew her latest performance was going to take a toll on her. In Till, the actress, 40, portrays Mamie Till-Mobley, whose 14-year-old son Emmett Till's 1955 lynching helped spark the civil rights movement. Deadwyler recalled trying to compartmentalize the trauma of Till-Mobley's experience from her own day-to-day life, despite their shared experience as mothers. She described that difficulty on Friday's episode of the PEOPLE Every Day podcast to host Janine Rubenstein. "I gotta be a Black mother for the rest of my life. We have to have a particular kind of ethic publicly and privately, in general," said Deadwyler, who has a 13-year-old son of her own. "And so, I had to go home to my child every night too. He still had homework and he still wants to eat," she continued. "So I mean, there are things that had to be done. He needs me. There is no not thinking about the after or maintaining a sense of care." Being a Mom Helped Danielle Deadwyler Channel Emmett Till's Mother, but the Story 'Is Bigger Than Me' Orion Pictures The Atlanta-born actress explained that prioritizing mental health was a crucial element in preparing to play Till-Mobley, who became a vocal activist in the fight for civil rights after her Black teen son was kidnapped, beaten and lynched on Aug. 28, 1955. "I knew that this was going to be something that I needed to take steps to prepare for. I have my own therapist," she explained. "If you're thinking about things in a certain kind of way and trying to move through the world with any sense of balance, then you're making that effort. I don't think we're supposed to burn ourselves up to give the greatest aspects of ourselves." RELATED VIDEO: Emmett Till Memorial Statue Unveiled in Mississippi: 'Affirmation That Our Lives Matter' Deadwyler found that the studio was aligned in a team effort in bringing the heartbreaking story to screen while keeping everyone involved healthy. "I was prepared for everything to a great degree," she says. "I think the studio is prepared to support people moving through this, because the intention was community and not highly individualistic." Till is now in theaters nationwide. Want to get the biggest stories from PEOPLE every weekday? Subscribe to our new podcast, PEOPLE Every Day, to get the essential celebrity, entertainment and human interest news stories Monday through Friday.