Danielle Deadwyler (born May 3, 1982) is an acclaimed American actress from southwest Atlanta, Georgia, who has transitioned from a distinguished stage career into a major film and television presence. She earned widespread critical praise and award nominations—including from BAFTA and the Screen Actors Guild—for her powerful portrayals in The Harder They Fall (2021), as Mamie Till in Till (2022), and as a conflicted mother in The Piano Lesson (2024). Before her cinematic breakthrough, Deadwyler started in Atlanta theatre (notably in For Colored Girls...) and made her screen debut in the 2012 drama A Cross to Bear, later appearing in series like The Haves and the Have Nots, P-Valley, and Station Eleven. An academic powerhouse, she holds degrees from Spelman College, Columbia University, and an MFA from Ashland University (2017). In 2025, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world, cementing her status as a leading voice in modern drama.