Fantasia.Photo: Paul Morigi/FilmMagic
It’s official:Fantasia Barrinowill front the cast for the upcoming big-screen adaptation ofThe Color Purple.
Oprah Winfrey— who made her film debut as Sofia in the 1985Steven Spielberg-directed movie adaptation of Alice Walker’s 1982 novel, and will produce the new musical version — was part of the announcement Thursday night onSoul of a Nation.
Barrino, 37, earned rave reviews for her performance, which was her Broadway debut.
“If you really put yourself in her shoes, that can be very tiring,” Barrino told Playbill.com about playing Celie. “It can take a lot of energy out of you. I know when I get off the stage at night from shows, I’m exhausted. I run to my room, and I fall on the couch, and I have to take at least about ten minutes to wind down and to get my thoughts together and come out of the part of Celie.”
TheAmerican Idolseason 3 winner said thatThe Color Purplewas the first musical she ever saw. “I had seen the movie, but it’s such an inspirational play,“she said in 2007. “I was crying. I was saying, ‘Oh, Lord, I hope I’m not the only one crying!'”
She opened up to PEOPLE at the time about the wisdom she received from her mentor Winfrey, who also produced Tony Award-winning show.
“Oprah gave me a lot of advice. She sat me down … Just, you know, how a lady should carry herself. How to manage your money. How to not put your trust in everybody. Just watch your back,” she said in 2008. “But most of all, you have to watch what you do. You have to carry yourself in such a way. You have to just watch your every move and carry yourself as a lady,” Barrino added. “So other young ladies who are watching you will know this is how you do it.”
Additionally,Danielle Brookshas been cast as Sofia, the role for which she previously received a Tony Award nomination after starring in the show’s 2015 Broadway revival. Brooks, 32, found her breakout onscreen role as Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson in 2013 with Netflix’sOrange Is the New Black, and she can currently be seen starring alongside John Cena in HBO Max’sPeacemaker.
Brooks recalled the moment she found out about her casting as Sofia. “They were saying, ‘Danielle, you have one more meeting with the director Blitz [Bazawule],’ and then, all of a sudden, this beautiful Black women in purple comes up on the screen and it’s MissOprah Winfrey,” she recounted.
“I am here, representing all things purple to tell you, you are our Sofia,” Winfrey told her in a clip from the call, during which Brooks was overjoyed.
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Taraji P. Henson.Kevin Mazur/Getty Images
Marcus Gardley has written the screenplay for the film, specifically adapted from theTony-winningBroadwaymusical based on Walker’s novel that ran from 2005 to 2008, with a revival that ran from 2015 through early 2017.
Winfrey will produceThe Color Purplealongside Spielberg, 75. It is slated for a Dec. 20, 2023, release.
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The story ofThe Color Purplefollows the lives of several Black women — namely Celie and Nettie Harris, Shug Avery and Miss Millie — in the American South in the 1930s.
The original Broadway musical of the story debuted in 2005 and earned 11 Tony Award nominations a year later, with actressLaChanzewinning a Tony for her role as Celie.
Cynthia Erivoalso played the role of Celie in the 2015 revival, for which she won the Tony Award for lead actress in a musical.
Alongside Winfrey, Goldberg, 66, and Avery, 77, Spielberg’s film adaptation also starredDanny Glover. It was nominated for 11Academy Awards, and earned Winfrey a Best Supporting Actress nod.
Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Risingis airing on ABC.
source: people.com
