'Till' 's Danielle Deadwyler on Seeking Therapy While Filming the Emotional Drama: 'I Was Prepared for Everything'

Danielle Deadwyler knew her latest performance was going to take a toll on her.

In Till, the actress, 40, portrays Mamie Till-Mobley, whose 14-year-old son Emmett Till's 1955 lynching helped spark the civil rights movement. Deadwyler recalled trying to compartmentalize the trauma of Till-Mobley's experience from her own day-to-day life, despite their shared experience as mothers. She described that difficulty on Friday's episode of the PEOPLE Every Day podcast to host Janine Rubenstein.

"I gotta be a Black mother for the rest of my life. We have to have a particular kind of ethic publicly and privately, in general," said Deadwyler, who has a 13-year-old son of her own.

"And so, I had to go home to my child every night too. He still had homework and he still wants to eat," she continued. "So I mean, there are things that had to be done. He needs me. There is no not thinking about the after or maintaining a sense of care."

The Atlanta-born actress explained that prioritizing mental health was a crucial element in preparing to play Till-Mobley, who became a vocal activist in the fight for civil rights after her Black teen son was kidnapped, beaten and lynched on Aug. 28, 1955.

"I knew that this was going to be something that I needed to take steps to prepare for. I have my own therapist," she explained. "If you're thinking about things in a certain kind of way and trying to move through the world with any sense of balance, then you're making that effort. I don't think we're supposed to burn ourselves up to give the greatest aspects of ourselves."

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Deadwyler found that the studio was aligned in a team effort in bringing the heartbreaking story to screen while keeping everyone involved healthy. "I was prepared for everything to a great degree," she says. "I think the studio is prepared to support people moving through this, because the intention was community and not highly individualistic."

Till is now in theaters nationwide.

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