Danielle Deadwyler

Danielle Deadwyler Profile Photo

Characters played by Danielle Deadwyler

Elena Cole — Carry-On (2024)

LAPD detective who investigates the Novichok smuggling ring and links it to Ethan's emergency call. She leads the airport-wide lockdown, identifies the political motive behind the plot, and ultimately authorizes the flight's departure to facilitate Ethan's final confrontation with the Traveler.

Berniece Charles — The Piano Lesson (2024)

Main protagonist and Boy Willie's sister; guardian of the ancestral piano who views it as a sacred memorial and refuses to sell it despite financial pressure and supernatural hauntings.

Cuffee — The Harder They Fall (2021)

Cuffee is Stagecoach Mary's friend and enforcer who joins Nat Love's group for the mission against Rufus Buck. Cuffee helps rob the bank without killing anyone, frees Stagecoach Mary, kills Cherokee Bill in a quick-draw confrontation, and ultimately becomes Bass Reeves's deputy.

Hailey Freeman — 40 Acres (2025)

Hailey Freeman is the film’s matriarch and the narrative’s central survivor. She leads descendants of African-American farmers who settled in rural Canada in 1875, helping her family endure a decimated post-apocalyptic future two centuries later. The synopsis provides no further specific actions or relationships.

Mamie Till-Mobley — Till (2022)

Emmett's mother who warns him about racism before his Mississippi trip. After his brutal murder, she demands his body be returned, organizes a nationally televised open-casket funeral to expose his mutilation, testifies at the trial, and publicly denounces the unjust verdict, ultimately catalyzing the Civil Rights Movement.

Ramona — The Woman in the Yard (2025)

Ramona is a widowed mother raising Taylor and Annie after a car accident killed David. Emotionally distant and struggling with depression, she hides that she caused the crash and prayed for the strength to end her life. The Woman becomes a manifestation of her psyche and tries to lead her toward suicide, while Ramona ultimately chooses to face her trauma and remain with her children.

Vanessa — Parallel (2024)

Protagonist living in a wooded house. After hearing a loud noise from the forest, she walks there alone with a rifle. She is shot at, hides, and sees another version of herself through her scope. Her marriage is strained, culminating in an argument where she tells her husband she wishes she had died.

Lemon Cassidy — The Devil to Pay (2020)

Lemon Cassidy is the film's central protagonist, an Appalachian mother and homemaker whose child is taken hostage. Forced to work for Tommy Runion, she follows a deadly trail, exposes betrayal, outmaneuvers the Runion faction, and kills its leaders to protect Coy. Her transformation from caretaker to determined survivor drives the entire story.

Jane Manning — Jane and Emma (2018)

Jane is a Black pioneer in 1844 who walks hundreds of miles to return home and see Joseph Smith. Attacked by bandits on the way, she escapes and continues to the Smith family home, arriving after Joseph has been murdered. She comforts Emma and shares watch duty with her through the night.

Career Overview

Danielle Deadwyler has 45 screen credits in a career dating back to 1997. Signature works include Carry-On, The Piano Lesson, I Saw the TV Glow. Explore the interactive character relationship maps on each title page to trace how their roles connect across franchises.

Personal Facts

Known For
Acting
Gender
female
Known Credits
45
Birth Date
1982-05-03
Birth Place
Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Known For

Frequent Collaborators

Credits