Till's Danielle Deadwyler addresses Best Actress Oscar snub

Danielle Deadwyler has never shied away from speaking her mind.

The self-professed "child" of "civil rights-legacy institutions of Atlanta" guested on the Kermode & Mayo's Take podcast ahead of the BAFTA Awards, where she is nominated for Best Actress for her performance as Mamie Till-Mobley in director Chinonye Chukwu's Till. In late January, after the Oscar nominations were announced, Chukwu released a statement saying that she and Deadwyler "work in industries that are so aggressively committed to upholding whiteness and perpetuating an unabashed misogyny towards Black women." 

The podcast's hosts asked Deadwyler whether she agreed with Chukwu's statement.

Without missing a beat, Deadwyler replied, in reference to AMPAS voters, "We're talking about people who perhaps chose not to see the film. We're talking about misogynoir, like it comes in all kinds of ways, whether it's direct or indirect. It impacts who we are. I think the question is more on people who are living in whiteness, white people's assessment of the spaces they are privileged by." 

Deadwyler's performance as Till's grieving mother turned activist received wide critical acclaim and garnered the actress nominations for the SAG Awards, the Critics Choice Awards, and the BAFTAs. But when the Oscars nominations were announced, neither Deadwyler, nor Viola Davis, who had received similar praise for her performance in The Woman King, were on the final contender list.

The snub of two Black actresses prompted many to address the exclusion, including Whoopi Goldberg who produced and costarred in Till. And the snub of not only two Black actresses, but also several Black women directors (The Woman King's Gina Prince-Bythewood, Till's Chukwu, and Nanny's Nikyatu Jusu) has many, including Deadwyler, speaking out about systemic racism within institutions like the Academy, the wider awards structure, and more.

"We've seen it exist in a governmental capacity — it can exist on a societal capacity, be it global or national," Deadwyler adds. "Then it has its residual effects. It is in our quotidian life. It is in our industries. It is a thing… Everyone has to assess and investigate, source out and make more equitable. Nobody is absolved of not participating in racism and not knowing that there is a possibility of its lingering effect on the spaces and the institution." 

You can listen to the podcast when it drops tomorrow at 10 a.m. ET/7 a.m. PT on Apple Podcasts.

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Related content:

• Whoopi Goldberg addresses Till Oscars snub live on The View moments after nominations
• Danielle Deadwyler on playing Mamie Till-Mobley in Till: 'Even at the nadir of your life, you have will'
• Till director Chinonye Chukwu slams 'misogyny towards Black women' after Oscars snub
• Till director Chinonye Chukwu: 'We had a therapist on set every day'