SUCOPRESS/Raquel Laguna. Actress and singer FANTASIA BARRINO stars in THE COLOR PURPLE, directed by Blitz Bazawule. In this interview, Barrino talks about how much she relates to her character in the film. Fantasia gets emotional talking about the first time she watched THE COLOR PURPLE by Steven Spielberg when she was a little girl. Produced by Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones, THE COLOR PURPLE is a bold new take on the classic story of love and resilience, adapted from the beloved novel and the Broadway musical. Torn apart from her sister and her children, Celie faces many hardships in her life, but ultimately learns to find extraordinary strength in the unbreakable bonds of a new kind of sisterhood. The movie stars Oscar nominee Taraji P. Henson, Oscar nominee, SAG Award winner and Tony Award nominee Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, Tony Award nominee Corey Hawkins, Oscar and Grammy-winning artist H.E.R., Grammy nominee Halle Bailey, Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and Grammy-winning artist Fantasia Barrino in her major motion picture debut.
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PeopleTranscript
00:00 You said several times you relate a lot to your character,
00:05 Celie. - Yes, yes.
00:05 - Tell me about it.
00:07 (laughs)
00:08 - Well, I mean, if you watch the movie
00:11 and you see what she goes through,
00:13 then I think that says a whole lot.
00:16 You know, I went through a lot of things
00:19 at a very young age and so did Celie.
00:22 I had a child, not so young.
00:24 My first child was at 17 years old.
00:28 You know, I lost a lot in my life
00:32 and I had to go through a lot of hardships,
00:35 but they were necessary, even for Celie.
00:39 It was necessary 'cause in the end, she wins.
00:43 And so, Celie is very, very dear to me, very dear to me.
00:47 Playing her this time was totally different
00:51 from playing her on Broadway.
00:53 I was younger.
00:54 You know, my life was in shambles and so was Celie's.
00:58 So it was like carrying two crosses at the same time.
01:02 This time around, I'm much older, wiser, married.
01:05 I have two more children that I added to the bunch.
01:09 We can't forget about my little doggie, Lola,
01:11 so that means I have, you know, they're all my children.
01:15 And, you know, playing her this time around
01:19 with so many great actors and actresses
01:22 and doing it in a movie was totally different from Broadway.
01:28 So I had to tap in in a totally different way.
01:31 I had just started traumatic therapy
01:34 when I was asked to play Celie.
01:36 Traumatic therapy is them going back into your childhood
01:40 and digging deeper into things that you've suppressed,
01:44 forgotten, that may be hindering you from your adulthood.
01:47 I had to stop therapy.
01:50 Instead of my therapist doing the work,
01:52 I allowed Celie to do the work.
01:54 So that was very, very different for me.
01:58 There was a lot of outer body experiences,
02:02 but she and I are really close.
02:06 - Do you remember the first time you watched
02:10 The Color Purple by Steven Spielberg?
02:12 - Yeah.
02:13 - What went through your mind?
02:14 - Oh my God, a lot.
02:16 Somebody may not understand when I was at that age
02:22 watching Color Purple and I would be boohooing
02:24 and crying.
02:25 It was my first time seeing someone on a film
02:32 and on a screen that I could relate to.
02:35 It's like seeing what she went through
02:39 at such a young age.
02:40 And it was the first time that I also was a bit terrified
02:48 thinking, wow, they put that on screen.
02:52 Wow, they talked about that.
02:54 Or they showed that, right?
02:57 But I could not stop watching.
02:59 And I got the chance to talk to Whoopi Goldberg,
03:02 which was something that I always wanted to do.
03:04 There was no way I could come behind her
03:06 and try to do what she done, the foundation,
03:09 the ground that she laid for us.
03:12 So I wanted her to know, thank you for being such,
03:23 being an inspiration in my life
03:24 and showing me that girls that look like me
03:27 and that look like her can do this.
03:30 And so not trying to do,
03:32 'cause I could never do what she did,
03:34 but I wanted to bring that same thing with Sele
03:39 and allow her to completely take over my body
03:42 so that the girls up under me could see that same thing
03:46 that have been through some of the same things
03:48 and actually feel, heal and hold
03:51 and know that they could do whatever
03:52 They put their minds to.
03:54 (laughs)
03:56 (chewing)