Up-and-coming actor Cedric Joe has landed a coveted role on ABC’s limited series Women of the Movement.
According to TheWrap, Joe will play Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Chicago native who was lynched while visiting relatives in the Mississippi Delta region in 1955.
The actor, also known as “CJ” among his family and friends, has previously appeared on the series Game Shakers (Nickelodeon), Modern Family (ABC) and Good Trouble (Freeform).
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Women of the Movement centers on Till’s mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who devoted her life to seeking justice for her son, after an all-white jury acquitted his killers.
Joe joins Adrienne Warren and Niecy Nash on the six-episode historical drama. Warren will play Till’s mother and Niecy Nash co-stars as his grandmother Alma Carthan.
As previously reported, writer Marissa Jo Cerar (Shots Fired, 13 Reasons Why and The Handmaid’s Tale) created the series and will serve as showrunner. The first episode will be directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Old Guard, Love & Basketball, Shots Fired).
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Executive producers include Jay-Z, Will Smith, Jay Brown, Tyran ‘Ty Ty’ Smith, James Lassiter, Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor and Michael Lohmann, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Rosanna Grace, Alex Foster, John Powers Middleton, David Clark.
The series is inspired by the book “Emmett Till: The Murder That Shocked the World and Propelled the Civil Rights Movement” by Devery S. Anderson.
