Whoopi Goldberg has described her co-star Danielle Deadwyler as “a revelation” in Till.

In the new drama, the They Harder They Fall actress plays Mamie Till-Mobley, who became a civil rights activist after her 14-year-old son Emmett Till was lynched for allegedly whistling at a white woman in Mississippi in 1955.

Her co-star, who also produced the film, had nothing but praise for Deadwyler’s performance during a post-screening Q&A with fellow producer Barbara Broccoli in London in December.

“It’s a revelation. She’s incandescent, it’s rare, it happens occasionally, you see it, but that performance, I want to tip my dreads to her because it’s just beyond… She’s the only one who could have done it,” Goldberg said. “I can’t tell you enough how magnificent this cast is.”

Deadwyler has received critical acclaim and awards buzz for her work, and she beat the likes of Cate Blanchett and Brendan Fraser to win the Gotham Independent Film Award for Outstanding Lead Performance in November.

Broccoli then revealed that Till-Mobley’s family members were really impressed by Deadwyler and Goldberg, who appears briefly in the drama as Emmett’s grandmother Alma Carthan.

“When they saw the film, they couldn’t believe how much she really captured the spirit of Mamie,” Broccoli noted. “Also with Alma, with Whoopi, they were astounded, they said it was as if they were seeing them again in real life. It was extraordinary.”

Till was released in U.K. cinemas on Friday.

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