In the upcoming movie musical adaptation of “The Color Purple,” actresses Fantasia Barrino-Taylor, Taraji P. Henson and Danielle Brooks star as the three main women anchoring this triumphant tale.
Taking on the iconic roles of Celie, Shug Avery, and Sofia, respectively, the three accomplished artists all have an inextricable link to Alice Walker’s classic story in their pasts. For Henson, who recently shared that she was originally approached to play Shug on Broadway years ago but turned it down, this new iteration was a serendipitous opportunity she couldn’t ignore. For Brooks and Barriono-Taylor, who played the same roles on Broadway as they are in the film, coming back to this story was a second chance to show both personal, career, and spiritual evolution. And for newcomer Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, who plays young Celie and is making her debut with this monumental film, the role gave her the chance of a lifetime to be tethered to a work that’s been impactful to generations of women since the original book’s release in 1982.
But what is perhaps the most potent through-line between all four women when it comes to this forthcoming feature is the overwhelming theme of spirituality and connectivity. In reflecting and celebrating “what God has done” for them in the film, Brooks told The Root about a special moment at the beginning of filming that perfectly illustrated her feelings.
“Being around that tree [at the end], that was our first day of shooting. And to see all of our Black skin in white and be wrapped around this tree that we shot in Savannah, Georgia—I’m sure a lot of our ancestors were there that day,” she said. “That was very special. And just to be there with Miss Oprah and the team. And then celebrating ending with the Electric Slide. There ain’t never been a film to have the experience that we are having right now, and I know that’s my ‘look, what God has done’ moment.”
“I’ll never forget filming ‘Shug Avery’s Coming to Town’ and I just looked around and I’m seeing all the dancers and I was just like: ‘look at how beautiful Black people are. Look at how we get to present ourselves to the world,’” explained Henson. “I think for me, that was my ‘look, what God has done’ moment because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a production look so beautiful, just full of Black faces of all shapes, sizes, hues. Just a beautiful representation of us.”
As far as Barrino-Taylor is concerned, her mere presence alone in being a part of this influential work for the second time—and in her first lead role in a film like Mpasi—is “a God thing” in and of itself.
“I’m here. Me just being here. Just being here is a God thing,” she shared.
For Mpasi, joining forces with the aforementioned powerful actresses in this film did more to rebuild her relationship with God and solidified that dreams really are coming true for people everyday.
“I think when I wrapped, I definitely had “a look at what God has done” moment because I think I thought I was going to feel really like emotional in a sad way. And still kind of feel like the character and the trauma she went through. But I felt so joyous and so happy and like I triumphed and had done something really amazing that I only dreamt of,” she said to The Root.
She continued:
“Maybe God’s trying to tell you something...you know, I actually think of the lines Shug Avery says: ‘I don’t think God did that. I think men did that.’ And I really had to sit with that because oftentimes I look at what’s going on in our world and I’ll blame God and be like, ‘well, why can’t God just come stop this?’ You know?
But I think it made me realize that as humans, we have our own power and we need to harness it for good because we see what happens when it’s harnessed for bad. And this film just being a part of it, and especially playing Celie, whose own relationship with God has been tested. It definitely healed my relationship with God and with my faith.”
“I think I believe in magic a little bit more. I believe in God a little bit more. I believe that miracles are happening every single day. And I often say like someone’s dreams coming true every single day. And I think I actually really believe that now,” she concluded.
“The Color Purple” hits theaters everywhere on Christmas Day.