EXCLUSIVE: Jalyn Hall (All American) has signed on to play Emmett Till in Chinonye Chukwu’s Till, MGM’s Orion Pictures announced today.
The 14-year-old actor will appear in the film alongside previously announced cast members Danielle Deadwyler and Whoopi Goldberg.
Till tells the story of Mamie Till-Mobley (Deadwyler), whose pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son Emmett Louis Till became a galvanizing moment that helped lead to the creation of the civil rights movement. 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.
The feature is based in part on the original research of Keith Beauchamp for his award-winning 2005 doc The Untold Story of Emmett Louis Till.
Chukwu wrote the screenplay, based on a previous draft by Keith Beauchamp and Michael J P Reilly.
Producers on the project include Keith Beauchamp, Barbara Broccoli, Thomas K. Levine, Michael JP Reilly, Frederick Zollo and Academy Award winner Whoopi Goldberg. Pic will head into production in Atlanta next month.
Hall was recently cast as a co-lead in The Crossover, a pilot for 20th Television Studios and Disney+, which is based on the Newbery Award-winning book.
The actor continues to portray Dillon James on The CW’s hit football drama All American, which is heading into its fourth season. He has also recurred on Netflix’s Family Reunion, ABC’s Black-ish and CBS’s NCIS: LA, finding a lead role on the film side in Joe Robert Cole’s Netflix pic, All Day and a Night.
Hall is represented by Pantheon, Luber Roklin Entertainment, J Pervis Talent Agency and attorney Chris Abramson.
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