When original Color Purple star Oprah Winfrey approached Fantasia Barrino in 2021 to play Celie, an abused and uneducated Southern Black woman at the turn of the 20th century, in a big-screen musical reimagining of the classic film and Alice Walker’s novel, she turned her down.
Sixteen years ago, when she was in her early 20s, Barrino had played the role on Broadway, but it had been a traumatic rather than triumphant experience. “My life was in shambles,” Barrino, now 39, says, explaining how draining it was to portray Celie’s harrowing journey for eight shows a week. “I carried her every day, all day, and I didn’t like that feeling.” When her run ended nine months later, she swore she’d never play the role again.
It was director Blitz Bazawule who changed Barrino’s mind about doing the film. He flew to her North Carolina home to explain his spin on the story, sharing his vision of Celie’s first encounter with Shug Avery, played by Taraji P. Henson, the sultry songstress who opens Celie’s eyes to a world beyond her oppressed existence. Barrino loved his ideas. She realized that, in the movies, unlike onstage, the audience could have access to Celie’s inner monologue, giving the character, who rarely speaks, more of a voice. “You get to see how she made it through some of this stuff,” Barrino notes. So she said yes.
While filming the movie, Barrino showed an intense commitment to the role despite it bringing up a lot of unresolved feelings about her own experiences with violence and sexual abuse in past relationships. She refused to allow a stunt double to handle the scenes when she was abused by Colman Domingo, who plays Mister.
“The Color Purple” marks Barrino’s first film role after playing herself in the 2006 Lifetime movie “Life Is Not a Fairy Tale: The Fantasia Barrino Story,” based on her memoir.
Returning to the role of Celie granted Barrino a deeper understanding not only of the character but also of herself. Though bringing Celie to the screen was punishing, it was also liberating. “I’m grateful that I did not allow those voices in my head to hold me back from stepping into this woman’s shoes,” she says. “It was important that I did.”
