00:00Danielle Deadweiler.
00:08Danielle Deadweiler is not only an actor, a formally trained poet, a filmmaker, and a visual artist.
00:21Danielle Deadweiler is a vessel.
00:25She brings a calling upon her ancestors to whatever medium she engages in.
00:32She surrenders. She transcends.
00:37Before I cast Danielle in Till, I watched all the work she had previously done as an actor on screen.
00:49Whether it was a brief guest role in a comedic sitcom or the starring role in a dramatic movie,
00:56Danielle so thoroughly and exquisitely found and lived in the humanities of each of the characters she played.
01:06No, she didn't play them. She embodied them.
01:12It was as if she was magnetic energy that drew us to the depth in her eyes, the complexities in her gestures, the nuanced subtext in her pauses.
01:25And then, I worked with her on Till.
01:30Now, I've spoken often about why I knew Danielle was perfect to portray the film's central heroine, Mamie Till Mobley.
01:39She can hold and command a frame without saying a word.
01:43She can tell an entire story with just her eyes.
01:47And her utter command of her craft as an actor is seen and felt in the most guttural and awe-inspiring way.
01:57All I gotta point to is the six-minute, 45-second long take she held in the film.
02:05A performance that had every single person on set utterly transfixed.
02:12No, that wasn't just a performance.
02:15That was a call upon the ancestors.
02:19But what I haven't spoken a lot about is who Danielle is as a person.
02:25For the last few years, I've had the honor of witnessing and experiencing an incredible human being
02:33who is so detached from ego and so abundantly full of humor and radical joy.
02:42Danielle Dedeweiler is an artist.
02:46She is an auteur.
02:48She is a star in every sense of the word
02:53and has delivered one of the greatest performances in cinema history.
03:04She has expanded the possibilities of black female representation on screen
03:10and of cinematic storytelling in general.
03:13Danielle Dedeweiler is my creative partner, my friend, my comrade.
03:21And it brings me deep joy to honor her in front of everyone today.
03:27Let's take a look at just how incredible Danielle Dedeweiler is.
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