How Oprah, Spielberg and former ‘American Idol’ Fantasia brought a $100 million ‘The Color Purple’ musical to the big screen

 

Danielle Brooks, from left, Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson and Blitz Bazawule pose for a portrait to promote the film "The Color Purple" on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2023, in Los Angeles.

It's no secret that Fantasia Barrino had no intention of reprising her role as Celie. The winner of "American Idol" hadn't had the best experience performing on Broadway in "The Color Purple."

In a series of letters to God, the lead character in Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning book describes the sexual, physical, and psychological abuse she endured in the South in the early 20th century. At the end of the day, she found it hard to let go of that role. It didn't seem worth it even if she were to star in her first big movie. 

The fact that Fantasia Barrino desired not to reprise her role as Celie is no secret. The winner of "American Idol" hadn't had the greatest experience performing "The Color Purple" on Broadway. The protagonist of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning book writes a series of letters to God detailing the sexual, physical, and psychological abuse she endured in the South in the early 20th century. After all, she ultimately found it hard to let go of that character. It didn't even seem worth it to be the lead in her first big-budget movie.However, Blitz Bazawule, the director, had a different idea: he intended to instill inventiveness in Celie. This caught Barrino's attention.

In a subsequent interview, Bazawule stated, "Once she understood the assignment, she quickly agreed."

Bazawule was not an obvious candidate to direct this film, however. The multi-hyphenate Ghanaian artist had received acclaim and recognition for co-directing Beyoncé’s visual album “Black is King.” The only other film he had under his belt was the microbudget “The Burial Of Kojo,” which was made for less than $100,000.

But he had ambitious ideas involving large scale musical numbers that would take audiences on a dazzling journey through the history of Black music in America, from gospel to blues to jazz. And, of course, Celie’s inner life. He wasn’t at all sure he would get it, but he knew the story he wanted to tell.

“I thought, if I could just find a way to show the audience how this Black woman from the rural South was able to imagine her way out of pain and trauma it will debunk a myth that is that people who have dealt with abusing trauma are docile and passive or waiting to be saved,” Bazawule said. “If we could just imbue in (Celie) that scale, then that’s the version that needed to exist. Thankfully they said yes.”

They would have to jump through some hoops, however, to secure the kind of budget (reportedly around $100 million) that they needed to support the vision, including auditioning Henson, an Oscar-nominated actor, and Brooks, who already had a Tony nomination for her portrayal of Sofia.

“We were not the studio’s choices” Henson said. “I just felt some way about having to audition. I’m Academy Award nominated. I had just got finished singing on NBC’s ‘Annie Live.’ But I checked my ego and I did it. I went in as Shug. I found a dress, had a flower in my hair and faux fur stole and I kicked the door down because I didn’t want them to ever second guess me again.”

For Brooks, it was a six-month process that had her doubting herself. A lot of the people involved in “The Color Purple” felt the exhaustion of both having to prove themselves yet again, but also wanting to rise to the challenge nonetheless because this film was worth it.

“This is a huge undertaking to be part of,” said Brooks. “This movie is about legacy and it’s what I’ve been calling a cinematic heirloom.”

Her Broadway production was very minimalist and stripped down, so to be on location in Georgia, around Macon, Savannah, Atlanta and the small town of Grantville, was revelatory.

“My world really opened up because I got to use all of my senses,” Brooks said. “I got to explore all of Sofia because now I have a juke joint and I have a dinner table. I have a house. We had a white mob attacking me.”

The juke joint was a real set that required a real swamp to be dredged, where they’d stage Shug’s showstopper, “Push Da Button.”

“It’s probably the perfect confluence of my amazing technical and creative teams,” Bazawule said.

The film gives a new boldness to Celie and Shug’s relationship with one another and more dimensions to the male characters, including Colman Domingo’s Mister.

And all carry the weight of responsibility not only to the material and its predecessors, but also to future films made with primarily Black casts at this level.

“It’s not the first time I have been in a production of this scale but what matters to me is that it’s a Black production and it’s a production with Black producer, a Black director, predominately Black cast,” Henson said. “It’s like usually we’re supposed to make a dollar out of 15 cents. And after 20+ in the game, it’s like finally the studio trusted us to deliver.”

The question of awards is a loaded one. Though “The Color Purple” has all the makings of a big Oscar contender (Barrino and Brooks have already been nominated for Golden Globes), it comes with history. Spielberg’s film was nominated for 11 Oscars and infamously won none. And then there is the even stickier subject of Black women and Hollywood awards. Halle Berry remains the only Black best actress Oscar winner.

Bazawule is not particularly interested in the “dog and pony show” of awards season. It’s hard for him to fathom how anyone can pit one film against another, but he does understand that there are real gains in earning potential and creative freedom that happen if his actors, especially the women, get nominated and win.

“Our job was to go in and honor Alice Walker’s brilliant book. We did that. We found our healing through it and we’re an amazing group together. Our Q&A’s are out of this world,” he said, before taking a pause. “Now THAT I want and award for.”

All seem to agree that what they experienced is bigger than any validation from an award.

“There’s something magical about this story,” Brooks said. “It really does tamper with your heart in the best way. It opens it up. I’ve never experienced anything like what I’ve experienced during the journey of working on ‘The Color Purple.’”