The popular film “The Color Purple” is getting a new screen adaptation and its cast has finally been revealed. Actresses Danielle Brooks and Fantasia Taylor have been chosen to play Celie and Sofia.
The news was announced Thursday on ABC’s “Soul of a Nation: Screen Queens Rising” special.
Both actresses had previously taken part in the stage production of the musical and will be reprising their roles. Taylor’s Broadway debut was her role as Celie in the original 2007 production. Brooks’ onstage performance as Sofia in the revival earned her a Tony Award nomination in 2016.
Taylor announced she would be playing the lead role to her Instagram followers on Thursday night.
In the clip she shared, the phone call confirming she had been cast is heard and she can be seen celebrating.
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“As I sit tonight and reflect on the journey my life has taken I believe I now understand what Redemption truly feels like. The last time I stepped into this character, the similarities between what I portrayed on stage and what I experienced in my own reality were too close for comfort. I’ve learned since then that my pain was only an introduction to a greater purpose of meaning and assignment. I hope that every little black girl who is fighting to be heard and recognized also promises to never give up in spite of the costs,” read part of her caption.
Brooks, best known for her role as “Taystee” in the Netflix series “Orange is the New Black,” announced her casting to her Instagram by sharing a clip of the moment Oprah Winfrey told her she got the role during a Zoom call.
“Blessings upon blessings. Firstly, Thank you God. Secondly, So beyond grateful to @oprah for trusting me with playing, once again, this powerhouse of a woman. She put her foot in that role and helped to change so many lives. I pray to do the same,” read Brooks’ caption.
“The Color Purple” is an original Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker. The novel follows the struggle of Celie, an African-American woman who is living in the South in the early 1900s. In 1985, it was adapted to the big screen and was directed by Steven Spielberg with Whoopi Goldberg as Celie and Oprah Winfrey as Sofia.
According to Vanity Fair Winfrey, Spielberg, and Quincy Jones will be producers for the film and it will be directed by Blitz Bazawule who is the filmmaker behind Beyoncé’s “Black is King.”
Along with Taylor and Brooks, the star-studded cast will include Colman Domingo as Mister, Halle Bailey as Nettie, Taraji P. Henson as Shug Avery, Corey Hawkins as Harpo, and H.E.R. as Squeak.
Photo Credit: AP/ Shutterstock/ Getty Images
