Here's How the <i>Till</i> Cast Compares to the Real Life People The Film is Based On (2024)

Emmett Till spent the end of the summer visiting relatives near Money, Mississippi, in 1955. Carolyn Bryant, a white woman who would later reveal to the New York Times that she lied about their encounter, falsely accused Till of offending her after a run-in at her grocery store. Two days later, Bryant's husband and his half-brother abducted the teen from his great-uncle's house before they beat, mutilated, lynched, shot, and sank his dead body into the Tallahatchie River. Till's battered body was discovered three days later. His mother insisted on having an open casket so that the world could see the brutality of racism in Jim Crow America.

According to PBS.org, both men were found not guilty of the crime but later admitted to William Bradford Huie that they killed the young teen after they were paid $4,000 by Look magazine in 1965. To date, no one has been charged with any crimes in connection to Emmett Till's kidnapping and murder.

15-year-old Jalyn Hall is one of Hollywood's rising stars. Hall learned of Emmett Till's tragic passing in the wake of the 2020 uprisings due to George Floyd's murder when he was 12 or 13. "It's one of those things where the earlier you learn, the earlier you can adapt, the fast you can be aware," the teen actor said to The New Yorker.

According to Hall, filmmakers kept details of the film a secret while he prepared to audition. After learning that film he landed a role in would be centered around Till's death, Hall began researching. "I just learned what a great boy he was. He loved to sing. He loved to dance. He loved his mother. He was curious,” he said. “You never really think of him as the kid he was.”

Mamie Till-Mobley was an educator before the death of her teen son. Following his death, Till-Mobley became a civil rights advocate. According to PBS.org, Till-Mobley decided to keep the casket of her son's mutilated body open because "everybody needed to know what happened to Emmett Till." She even allowed Jet magazine, one of the biggest Black publications at the time, to take pictures of her son's dead body and share them in the print publication.

More than 50,000 people attended the funeral services in Chicago. Many funeralgoers were left in tears, and some fainted at the sight and smell of Emmett's disfigured body.

After her son's death, Till-Mobley would go on to keep his memory alive through public speaking opportunities she used to discuss the tragedy.

She tied the knot with Gene Mobley, who she remained married to until his death from a stroke on March 18, 2000. Till-Mobley died of heart failure on January 6, 2003, at 81.

Danielle Deadwyler, who gained acclaim for her role in Netflix's The Harder They Fall, stars as Emmett's mother Mamie Till-Mobley.

She opened up about how her initial excitement turned into anxiousness after she landed the iconic role. "There was only a split second to be joyful," Deadwyler told the Los Angeles Times. "I have the job and the honor, but also the responsibility. I know that responsibility deeply because I am a child of the South. I was anxious and nervous."

According to PBS.org, Carolyn Bryant owned a grocery store with her husband, Roy Brant. On August 24, 1955, she stormed out of their store after an unconfirmed exchange with Till, his cousins, and some of their friends. Once Bryant's husband discovered the claims against the group of young boys, he recruited his half-brother J.W. Milam to abduct and brutally murder Till. According to PBS.org, Carolyn testified under oath that the teen said "ugly remarks" to her. Both men were acquitted. Carolyn and Roy became local celebrities, with reporters celebrating their "handsome looks." She was even called "Roy Bryant's most attractive wife" and "crossroads Marilyn Monroe."

According to an excerpt from the unpublished memoir, I Am More Than a Wolf Whistle: The Story of Carolyn Bryant Donham, which was obtained by The Washington Post, Bryant claimed that the last she saw Till alive, he was dragged into her kitchen by her husband, his half-brother and other white men. She claimed that she told her husband that he had the wrong person. ‘No, it’s not him,” she said, according to the memoir. “ 'You have the wrong person, it’s NOT him.’ All I could think was, ‘Take him home, please take him home.’ I was terrified for his safety.”

In August 2022, a jury declined to indict 88-year-old Carolyn Bryant Donham on charges of kidnapping and manslaughter. According to a statement obtained by CNN, Leflore County, Mississippi District Attorney Dewayne Richardson said, "After hearing every aspect of the investigation and evidence collected regarding Donham's involvement, the Grand Jury returned a 'No Bill' to the charges of both kidnapping and manslaughter." The statement continued, "The murder of Emmett Till remains an unforgettable tragedy in this country, and the thoughts and prayers of this nation continue to be with the family of Emmett Till."

Known for her standout roles in Swallow and The Devil All the Time, Hayley Bennett opened up about the importance of movies like Till and the information it may provide to others who may not be as familiar with the injustices of the Jim Crow South.

In America, it was a reckoning, but I didn’t have a deep knowledge of it. I thought: ‘I can’t be the only one.’ Bringing this story to light again, at the time when we desperately need it, was important to me," Bennett said to Variety. She also revealed that playing the role of the woman responsible for Till's death meant "carrying around hate and fear, paranoia and anger."