The Breakfast Club Podcast

Episode: INTERVIEW: R.T. Thorne & Danielle Deadwyler On Black Storytelling, Independence, '40 Acres' Film + More
Date: September 9, 2025

Episode Overview

In this engaging conversation, The Breakfast Club hosts DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, Charlamagne Tha God, and Lauren LaRosa welcome filmmaker R.T. Thorne and actor/producer Danielle Deadwyler. They delve into the new film 40 Acres, the art and responsibility of Black storytelling, the real-life challenges of independent filmmaking, and the importance of history, legacy, and self-preservation in a changing world. Danielle also reflects on her role in Till and the emotional demands of her craft, while Thorne breaks down his creative journey and the real-world inspiration behind the film’s focus on land and survival.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Weight and Process of Telling Painful History

• Danielle Deadwyler’s Approach to “Till”
  • Danielle shares that her preparation for playing Mamie Till was rooted in rigorous research and her Atlanta upbringing.
    • "It's rigorous research...the civil rights community in Atlanta has reared me..." (03:05, Danielle)
  • She describes the emotional toll: "Anything that. That is visceral like that, that stays with you, it's a wound, a scar of sorts, and you walk with it..." (04:10, Danielle)
  • The lasting impact: "I get to talk about this all the time...this kind of echo. And it'll be in conversation with any work that I do moving forward." (04:20, Danielle)

2. Black Storytelling as Connection and Survival

• Responsibility in Storytelling
  • Danielle asserts storytelling responsibility is ever-present for her: “Our history is integral… It’s a spherical thing. Everything is connected.” (05:53, Danielle)
  • Thorne expands: “...it’s rooted in their preservation of their culture...You have to know yourself as you’re surviving, as you’re moving forward, because you’re the only ones that are going to do that.” (06:34, RT Thorne)
  • The film blends joy with survival: “And yet they’re truly joyful...those things are what people are fighting for.” (07:21, Danielle)

3. Inspiration and Authenticity in Creation

• Personal Roots in 40 Acres
  • Thorne shares the film's matriarch, Haley, echoes his relationship with his mother, a Trinidadian immigrant who insisted he learn and preserve his own history:
    • "From the jump, my mom was like, I don't trust these institutions to teach you your history. So you're gonna do book reports..." (08:01, RT Thorne)
• Canadian Director Perspective
  • Canada’s diversity and cultural preservation shape Thorne’s storytelling:
    • “And in Canada, you bring your culture and you keep your culture, and we celebrate people's culture...the influences come from all over the place, and I think that's why that in a way, we can kind of pull from everybody.” (09:35, RT Thorne)

4. Artistry, Originality, and Representation

• From Music Videos to Feature Film

  • Thorne and Deadwyler discuss breaking into film and steering away from typecasting and formulaic Hollywood:
    • “I never really looked at it like that. I mean, honestly, it's like, you know, anything's a hustle...I expect to be able to have to prove things to people.” (10:46, RT Thorne)
    • “We can kind of pull from everybody, you know.” (09:35, RT Thorne)
  • Danielle on staying interdisciplinary: “Who? Typecasting. Who? Ain’t nobody gonna type. Guess. Me. I get to. I'm creating...I'm building from my inner world...” (14:57, Danielle)

• On Originality's Importance

  • Thorne: “I'm not wasting it. But at the same time, I grew up on Spielberg and, you know, I'm saying Spike Lee and James Cameron...So I'm like, well, I want to do both.” (11:41, RT Thorne)
  • Charlamagne’s reflection: “It should have always been the way in Hollywood because whenever you see the things that really pop off and break through, it's really something new.” (13:15, Charlamagne)

• Diversity of Roles

  • Deadwyler emphasizes resisting the one-note roles Black women are often offered: “I have a slate of madness coming…the last three things I’ve done have been straight up comedy…we're not. There is no one dimensionality ever...” (14:29, Danielle)

5. Creation Amidst Challenge: 40 Acres Production

• Serendipity and Collaboration
  • Their partnership was sparked by an earnest letter from Thorne during a pivotal moment for Deadwyler:
    • “He sent a beautiful letter…if the strikes wouldn’t have happened, I don’t know what would have occurred.” (16:16, Danielle)
  • The urgency and uncertainty: “…we were two weeks away from camera…we were moving forward regardless…just hoping she would jump on.” (17:24, RT Thorne)
  • Thorne’s faith: “I just, I was just, and I was praying every night.” (18:04, RT Thorne)

6. Land, Food, and Black Autonomy

• Present-Day Parallels
  • Land as power: “Land is everything.” (18:54, RT Thorne)
  • Deadwyler ties economics and access to essentials as a modern concern:
    • “Food is critical right now…the economics of it, like, who is able to pay for what, who has access to what, the freshest food or not…” (19:00, Danielle)
  • Thorne reflects on pandemic lessons:
    • “If this fragile thing that we call, you know what I mean, falls apart, do I know how to actually grow things and provide?” (19:42, RT Thorne)
  • Indigenous knowledge in the film: “The three sisters is sort of an indigenous practice…you’ll see some of that stuff…it’s not explicitly talked about, but it's…in the garden.” (20:14, RT Thorne)

7. Exploring Black Motherhood and Self-Care

• Emotional Diversity and Joy
  • “I think that there’s a diversity of things emotionally that are happening and we deserve to explore the other emotions just as much.” (21:06, Danielle)
  • The need for reprieve and self-distribution of labor: “It is a continuous effort to diversify the manner in which you distribute labor. To encourage others to have a greater independence and autonomy...” (26:03, Danielle)

8. Independent Film and Its Lifeblood

• The Value of Impact, Not Box Office

  • Thorne emphasizes legacy and resonance:
    • “Money comes and goes. So I think about legacy and I think about telling a story that's going to stay with people…independent film lifeblood is word of mouth.” (26:49, RT Thorne)
  • Digital platforms as new lifelines:
    • “Digital has just done something else for life…when it hits a streamer, it's a light in a completely different fashion.” (28:43, Danielle)

• On Industry Recognition and ‘Snubs’

  • Deadwyler dismisses fixation on awards in favor of ongoing cultural conversation:
    • “Anybody listening to that? What’s the snub?...There’s no snubbing. Snubbing isn’t possible if we are creating something and we are creating the conversation around it.” (30:31, Danielle)

9. Storytelling as Social Transformation

• Preserving and Inspiring through Art
  • “It’s vital for art to keep speaking from our perspective…if they don’t understand it, then they coming out with a certain sense of ignorance to the world…” (32:58, RT Thorne)
  • Danielle on art’s connective tissue:
    • “These stories, these fragments jump between us…you are to find the fragment and then expand upon it.” (34:09, Danielle)
  • The cycle of inspiration across generations and genres, from dance to hip hop to film.

10. The Emotional Toll and Recovery in Storytelling

• Knowing When to Engage Deeply

  • Danielle on choosing roles and maintaining wellness:
    • “I’m going to give everything to a thing if I choose to do it...I am consciously moving things around to do stuff so that I can be okay.” (35:46, Danielle)
  • Thorne on embracing the challenge:
    • “You know that any process that we dive into with our whole selves…is going to...hurt us some days…but it's also going to make you grow at the end…you learn your lessons through that process.” (38:58, RT Thorne)

• Motherhood and Emotional Rigor

  • “I feel like it changed. I had a different understanding of the rigor of the era of woman. To live in that kind of femininity…you have to protect our children in a certain kind of way...” (37:58, Danielle)

11. Advice to Future Black Creatives

• Legacy, Craft, and Love
  • Thorne encourages mining the past while making new art for the future:
    • “We’re the only ones that are going to tell our stories…go back to our past and remind people…but then also, I’m about creating stuff for the future…” (40:48, RT Thorne)
  • Danielle offers a blueprint:
    • “Rigor is critical...learn the craft so that you can therein move to intuition...and then love. Michael Gray Eyes taught me one of the indigenous terms for love…to grow into oneself.” (42:16, Danielle)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Our history is just a brilliant thing…everything is connected.”
  — Danielle Deadwyler (05:53)

• “From the jump, my mom was like, I don’t trust these institutions to teach you your history. So you’re gonna do book reports…”
  — RT Thorne (08:01)

• “I think there's a diversity of things emotionally that are happening and we deserve to explore the other emotions just as much.”
  — Danielle Deadwyler (21:06)

• “Money comes and goes. So I think about legacy and I think about telling a story that's going to stay with people.”
  — RT Thorne (26:49)

• “Snubbing isn’t possible if we are creating something and we are creating the conversation around it.”
  — Danielle Deadwyler (30:31)

• “Rigor is critical. … Learn the craft so that you can therein move to intuition...and then love.”
  — Danielle Deadwyler (42:16)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Danielle on Preparing for Till: 03:05 – 04:20
• Responsibility in Storytelling & Black History: 05:44 – 07:41
• RT Thorne on His Upbringing, Canadian Perspective: 08:01 – 09:35
• Artistry, Typecasting, and Choosing Roles: 14:26 – 15:54
• How 40 Acres Came Together: 16:12 – 18:42
• The Importance of Land and Land Ownership: 18:42 – 20:14
• Black Motherhood & Protecting Self: 21:06 – 26:03
• Success, Box Office & Indie Film Lifeblood: 26:36 – 28:43
• Awards, Recognition, and the Snub Conversation: 30:08 – 32:46
• Storytelling and Social Change: 32:46 – 35:29
• Navigating Emotional Toll as Artists: 35:29 – 40:19
• Advice for Future Creatives: 40:39 – 43:15

Conclusion

This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the intersection of Black culture, filmmaking, history, and legacy. Thorne and Deadwyler emphasize authenticity, the power and necessity of Black storytelling, and the ongoing journey of self-preservation, joy, and rigor within creative work.