Fantasia Parrino’s journey back to 'The Color Purple’
„I said I would never play this role again.” It’s been a long journey for Celie for „The Color Purple” star Fantasia Parrino, who spoke about the joys and pains of re-approaching the role at the London premiere of the new film musical. (Nov. 20)
40 years after she played Celie in Steven Spielberg’s 11-time Oscar-nominated film, the cast of the upcoming film „The Color Purple” (out Dec. 25) is showing their appreciation for Whoopi Goldberg.
In Wednesday’s episode In „The View,” Fantasia Barrino-Taylor, Danielle Brooks, and Taraji B. Henson led the musical’s cast studio crowd in a standing ovation for Goldberg. „They wouldn’t be here without you,” Oprah Winfrey told Brooks-Goldberg, who plays Sophia in her first Oscar-nominated role.
Blitz Basaule, the film’s director, sparked a moment of appreciation after Goldberg asked him why he had reversed his initial reluctance to helm the project.
„’The color purple,’ it’s sacred ground. You don’t show it without something to offer or contribute,” he said. „It’s a brilliant, Pulitzer Prize-winning book. It’s an incredible cinematic classic, and we owe it to you.”
Barrino-Taylor, who plays Celie in the upcoming film, starts standing up in her chair during the applause, and everyone behind the desk, including co-hosts Sunny Hostin and Sarah Hines, stands up and applauds.
Directing „The Color Purple” for Bazawule was „going back to Alice (Walker’s) brilliant words” and „finding these brilliant women and bringing it to life,” he said. The film also stars Coleman Domingo and Corey Hawkins.
Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning coming-of-age novel was published in 1982, and Spielberg’s adaptation – starring Danny Glover, Goldberg, Oprah Winfrey and Margaret Avery – was published three years later. The film earned Academy Award nominations for Goldberg (Best Actress in a Leading Role), Avery (Best Actress in a Supporting Role) and Winfrey (Best Actress in a Supporting Role).
Earlier this month, Winfrey, who is producing the latest adaptation of „The Color Purple,” honored Henson, Parrino-Taylor and Brooks at Elle’s Women in Hollywood celebration in Los Angeles. He wrote personalized texts for each woman and called Parrino-Taylor „a phoenix rising.”
„You saw something in me that I didn’t see in me a long time ago, and I know you’ve been waiting for me to get it right,” Parrino-Taylor told Winfrey in an emotional speech. „You’ve been waiting for me to see it, and I’m seeing it now.”
Image here: Oprah Winfrey wears a purple gown in her Smithsonian portrait
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