Oprah Winfrey is sharing what went into the decision process for the casting of The Color Purple, and how two of the world's biggest celebrities were considered for the film.
She recently sat down with the Hollywood Reporter — alongside Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, and Danielle Brooks — to share details about the movie that's already earned multiple Golden Globe nominations.
Oprah, who starred in the original film adaptation of The Color Purple as Sofia, now serves as a producer for the 2023 musical version. She opened up about the studio initially pushing for Beyoncé and Rihanna to have roles in the film.
"To be completely honest about it, if you were doing this film for $30 or $40 million, the interest in the cast would be very different," Oprah told the Hollywood Reporter. "Once the film moved to $90 to $100 million, then everybody wants us to bring Beyoncé."
"'Can you get Beyoncé or can you get Rihanna?' So we’re sitting in a room saying, 'Listen, we love Beyoncé. We love Rihanna, but there are other actors who can do this job.'"
Beyoncé and Rihanna were a little busy anyway, so booking them wasn't going to happen. As you may know, Bey was working on her Renaissance album, world tour, and documentary-style film. And outside of maintaining her Fenty empire, Rihanna welcomed her second child with A$AP Rocky.
But Oprah already had someone in mind for the movie and it was going to take a lot to change her mind. After seeing Danielle Brooks play Sofia during the Broadway production of The Color Purple, the media mogul knew she needed Danielle for the musical film.
"Danielle, my God, I knew from day one! I felt that one of the most fun moments was being able to call her, because I obviously had watched her on Broadway. There were other people, but she embodied it."
Oprah went on to gush about how important this project is to her, which is why she's been so vocal about the promotion of The Color Purple.
"That’s why I’m literally on the streets handing out tickets, OK? We are still in a place where the whole world doesn’t understand that we are such a vital part of the world, and that our stories deserve the highest of priorities," Oprah said about the marketing behind Black projects in Hollywood.
"That this is how you help to make people throughout the world connect and relate to our culture. So yeah, it's really important that this do well."
Be sure to watch The Color Purple when it hits theaters this Christmas.
