Jayme Lawson on How The Batman Changed Her Career, Till, and The Woman King

While you might not know Jayme Lawson’s name, you know her work — or you will. You saw her play the new mayor in Matt Reeves’ The Batman. Then there were her turns as a young Michelle Obama in The First Lady and as one of John Boyega’s wives in The Woman King. She also starred in Ekwa Msangi’s Farewell Amor and will do the same in Daniel Goldhaber’s upcoming film, How to Blow Up a Pipeline. I caught up with the busy Lawson — who is now appearing as Myrlie Evers (Medgar Evers’ wife) in director Chinonye Chukwu’s Till — before she headed to Atlanta to start playing Betty Shabazz in Genius: MLK/X. During our wide-ranging conversation, she talked about the importance of telling the tragic true story of Emmett Till, the boy who was lynched while visiting his cousins in Mississippi in 1955. She also opened up about watching Danielle Deadwyler’s fantastic performance as Mamie Till-Mobley up close, what she learned from working with Viola Davis, how Matt Reeves changed her life, and how she’s balancing playing