Youd be forgiven if your initial thought upon hearing about the new version ofThe Color Purpleis why?
After all, thats how director Blitz Bazawule and starFantasia Barrinofelt about it.
This film is a classic.
A scene from ‘The Color Purple’.Eli Ade
The play is a classic.
The book is a classic.
What is left for me?
Colman Domingo in ‘The Color Purple’.Eli Ade
Bazawule recalls thinking when he first heard about the opportunity.
Barrino went further and declined the role in the beginning.
“At first I felt like, ‘Why are we touching it?'”
H.E.R. and Corey Hawkins in ‘The Color Purple’.Lynsey Weatherspoon
I got to do it one more time, Barrino recalls.
What Blitz is coming with with thisColor Purple, its necessary for this generation," she adds.
“And the twist that he puts on it…
Blitz Bazawule (center) and Colman Domingo (right) on the set of ‘The Color Purple’.Eli Ade
I was just honored to even be in the presence of some real actors and actresses who bring it.
They gave me exactly what I needed to play Celie.
Nominated for 11 Oscars, including Best Picture, it rather infamously won none.
“It was the beginning of the ascension of everything that happened in my life.
LaChanze starred as Celie, winning a Tony for Best Actress in a Musical.
FANTASIA BARRINO:It changed with me.
I’m not the same girl.
I have a different lens.
You know the drill.
Can you tell me what the vibe was like the first day on set?
It’s the girls running towards the tree…
It was with Halle Bailey and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi.
We were excited [for] the journey we were about to embark on.
I’m really grateful for that day because it set the tone for the rest of the movie.
What was it like filming that scene?
BAZAWULE:Oh my goodness, are you kidding me?
I know what this is going to do for Taraji.
Fantasia doing I’m Here was so epic that some cast members came to watch it.
I remember Halle, Phylicia came.
It was a spectacle.
We were all waiting for Fantasia to sing I’m Here.
It’ll be a stripped-down moment where this woman bares her soul.
And also, she sang live.
She took a licking and she kept on ticking.
She dealt with certain people that did her wrong, but she still turned around and loved on them.
When you sang that part, it touched me because I’m this, I’m that.”
Although I was so tired, it was intentional for me to sing it live.
BAZAWULE:How many people can do that?
Most people are dubbed.
Most people use pre-records.
That whole [scene], that’s all just her.
Bro, I was in tears.
What are you most proud of your experience with making this film?
BARRINO:I feel like there was once a time in my career where things were not so good.
Days were not so bright, but I kept going and I never gave up.
Through Celie, I caught my breakthrough and I’m grateful for that.
But I’m just wiser.
I’m grown now.
The Color Purplewill play in theaters starting Dec. 25.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
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