*The musical reimagining of “The Color Purple” will be in theaters on December 25. Before the film’s debut, we talked to stars Taraji P. Henson (Shug Avery), Phylicia Pearl Mpasi (Young Celie), and director Blitz Bazawule about the script, dreams, and Alice Walker.
Q: In the 1985 film Shug Avery tells Celie, ‘You sho is ugly!’ Talk about the decision to remove that line from this adaptation…
Blitz Bazawule: We were very adamant this version of The Color Purple was going to reflect now. And it was going to reflect some of the evolving notions of blackness based on where the audience is at today…But more importantly, Celie had been hearing that she was ugly from other characters.
Bazawule added: Also to have a Black woman call another Black woman ugly did not function for the version of our film. That’s not in a way, a comment (about) the other iterations. But for our purpose, I really felt it was an unnecessary piece. And these women were going to be building a very co-dependent bond amongst each other…
Q: What did you learn from playing Celie?
Phylicia Pearl Mpasi: The way in which she views the world, she is a dreamer. She lives in her imagination. I think sometimes when you grow up and you’re an adult, you get hit with the realism of life. Celie has taught me to challenge that realism with more optimism…I’m just deciding that everything is beautiful and a blessing.
Q: How does this version of Alice Walker’s story resonate differently with you from your first experience with this story?
Taraji P. Henson: I’ve done a lot of films about incredible Black people, but it was not told by Black people. That’s what I cherish the most because it’s us owning our narrative. A lot of times when there is a Black director, the studio won’t let us be. And Blitz …. fought for the story you see on that screen. He fought for every last one of these cast members. Often times when we have Black directors…studios won’t allow them the freedom to cast who they want. Hopefully, this sends a big message to Hollywood that once you hire the director, you have to give them the freedom to make the film they want to make. They have a vision, that’s why you hired them. You should trust him.
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