The movie musical “The Color Purple” has found its leads.
Both Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks will reprise their roles as Celie and Sofia from the Broadway production.
In the original run of the Broadway show in 2007, the “American Idol” alum played Celie. The “Peacemaker” star played Sofia when it was revived on Broadway in 2015, earning a Tony nomination.
During ABC’s special “Soul of a Nation” on Thursday, Barrino and Brooks got to share the news of the casting and talk a bit about the upcoming project.
“The colour of my skin. When I was younger, my lips were always bigger, the biggest thing on my body. I remember being on ‘Idol’ and having to come up with this whole thing and I said, ‘My lips are big, but my talent is bigger,'” Barrino said.
She added, “I had started accepting who I was at that age, but when I was younger, it was things that I dealt with, just feeling beautiful, wanting a certain kind of love. So we relate in a lot of ways.”
Brooks looked back at her “baton pass from Oprah” when the media mogul surprised her with the news she got the part.
JUST IN: @TasiasWord and @thedanieb will join the cast of @WBPictures' #TheColorPurple alongside @tarajiphenson, @HERMusicx, and Corey Hawkins!
Thanks for helping with the reveal on #SoulOfANation @oprah! https://t.co/cmCYuBDn39 pic.twitter.com/HwpR39d5WE
— Good Morning America (@GMA) February 4, 2022
H.E.R., Corey Hawkins and Taraji P. Henson have already been cast in the film.
Steven Spielberg, who directed the 1985 movie “The Color Purple”, and original star Oprah Winfrey will be producing with Blitz Bazawule (“Black Is King”) directing.
