Following the recent casting of Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson as Shrug Avery, Warner Bros. Pictures continues to expand the ensemble cast of The Color Purple musical film with the addition of Peacemaker star Danielle Brooks and American Idol winner Fantasia Taylor.
Their casting was officially revealed during ABC News’ recent special titled Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Rising, where a brief clip of a Zoom call between Brooks and Oprah Winfrey was shown.
Just revealed on #SoulOfANation: @TasiasWord and @thedanieb will join the cast of @wbpictures #TheColorPurple alongside @tarajiphenson, @HERMusicx, and Corey Hawkins! Thanks for helping with the reveal on #SoulOfANation @Oprah! https://t.co/uJZ88dz6AP pic.twitter.com/M0YRZKyQs9
— Soul of a Nation (@SoulofaNation) February 4, 2022
Brooks and Taylor will be reprising their respective roles as Sofia and Celie Harris from the stage musical, which earned the Orange is the New Black vet a Tony Award nomination for her performance in the the 2015 revival. The characters of Sofia and Celie were famously portrayed by Winfrey and Whoopi Goldberg in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
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Based on the 1982 novel by Alice Walker, it follows the story of Celie and other African-American women in the Southern United States in the 1930s and their struggles with racism and living in the lower social class, while Celie also struggles to find her identity after suffering abuse from various men in her life over the years.
The Color Purple musical film will be directed by musician and filmmaker Blitz Bazawule (Black Is King, The Burial Of Kojo) from a screenplay written by Marcus Gardley, based on the award-winning musical of the same name. It will also feature Corey Hawkins (In the Heights) as Harpo, and Grammy and Oscar-winning artist H.E.R. in her acting debut as Squeak.
Slated for a 2023 theatrical release, the film adaptation will be produced by Steven Spielberg and Oprah Winfrey, who have worked together on the 1985 film adaptation. Joining Spielberg and Winfrey as producers are Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones with Alice Walker, Rebecca Walker, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Carla Gardini and Mara Jacobs serving as executive producers.
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The novel was first adapted for the big screen in 1985 with Spielberg directing, with Winfrey and Goldberg making their film debuts. It received highly positive reviews from critics and audiences alike, earning 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Actress for Goldberg and Best Supporting Actress for Winfrey.
The Color Purple was then turned into a Broadway musical in 2005, where it ran for three years and had earned 11 Tony Award nominations with singer-actress LaChanze winning a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical. After a decade, it was then followed by a revival from 2015 to 2017 that received even higher acclaim than the first run, winning two Tony Awards with Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo also winning a Tony for her lead performance as Celie.
