Vivian Kwarm | New York Daily News
For Oprah Winfrey, bringing a new adaptation of “The Color Purple” to theaters has been a “completely full circle” moment.
Winfrey, who played the role of Sophia in the 1985 film debut, served as executive producer of the new musical version, coming to theaters on Christmas. “What I felt the moment I got the role in ‘The Color Purple’ was, ‘Wow, God can dream a bigger dream for me than I can dream for myself’ because I never thought I was going to be playing a role,” she told The Daily News.
The media mogul went on to earn an Oscar nomination for the breakout role. Almost four decades later, she has passed the baton to Danielle Brooks, Fantasia and Taraji P. Henson, who star in the upcoming musical adaptation.
Steven Spielberg and Quincy Jones also serve as producers alongside the Winfrey, which is another full-circle experience for the trio, since Spielberg directed the 1985 film with Jones serving as producer.
And Winfrey says “The Color Purple” is still as relevant today as it was 38 years ago.
“This is what what we’re doing in 2023, and who knows where this evolves to in 2053,” she tells the News. “Because the spirit, the worth, the depth, the energy that was first created in 1982 when Alice Walker released this into the world is as needed now as it was then.”
The movie is already receiving Oscar buzz. Barrino, who plays Celie, has received a Golden Globe nomination in the best actress in a musical or comedy category, while Brooks, who plays Sophia, is up for best supporting actress.
As Winfrey nears her 70th birthday, she reflected on the longevity of “The Color Purple” and why it will “certainly, in the future of A.I., be needed even more.”
She explained, “Nothing that this movie offers can be replaced by a machine, or by A.I., or by technology. Everything that you feel when you come up out of watching this on Christmas day, you will be lifted and as [Fantasia], says you will be healed.”
The multi-hyphenate spoke of her own path to healing on the Dec. 12 episode of the “Drew Barrymore Show“, where she admitted she’s never been to therapy in the traditional sense, but rather used her 25 years hosting “The Oprah Winfrey Show” as her therapeutic outlet.
“I had all my therapy on the show in front of everybody. And you know, when I first started in 1986 with the national show, nobody was going to therapy. Even speaking about therapy on television was taboo, and now everybody has gone to therapy,” Winfrey told Barrymore. “So I did my therapy in front of everyone at a time when people were still adjusting their consciousness to the idea of accepting somebody else being able to counsel you about your life.”
The queen of talk, who was recently honored with the unveiling of her portrait at Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, now reflects on how her career continues to impact television and this upcoming film.
“For someone who is about to turn 70,” she told The News. “This is the sweetest, sweetest of moments.”
“The Color Purple” will hit theaters on “Christmas Day.”
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