'The Colour Purple' trivia and fun facts
Reprising roles
Fantasia Barrino (Celie) reprises her role in the movie from the original 2005 Broadway production of 'The Color Purple' and Danielle Brooks (Sophia) reprises her role from the 2015 Broadway Revival.
Special cameo
Whoopi Goldberg, who played mature Celie in the original film, is the midwife who helps young Celie give birth.
Bye to Oprah
Oprah Winfrey declined to make an appearance in the film.
Domingo with Spielberg
Colman Domingo appeared in 'Lincoln' (2012) by Steven Spielberg, director of the original: 'The purple colour' (1985).
Origins
It was first written as a book by Alice Walker, which was later made into a film directed by Steven Spielberg. The book was then turned into a Broadway musical in 2005. This second film adaptation is based on the musical adaptation.
Mental health visibility
Taraji P. Henson talked in a 2023 interview on Fresh Air about the recent, unprecedented drive within the African American community to publicly acknowledge and address mental health. "You see celebrities and athletes saying 'I'm going to take a break for my mental wellness.' We've never seen anything like this before, and this movie is going to only shed more light on why we need to heal and break these generational curses."
Old friends
Danielle Brooks and Corey Hawkins are good friends and former Juilliard classmates. Shortly after being cast as Harpo, Hawkins asked producer Scott Sanders to consider Brooks to play Sofia opposite him. She had previously starred as Sofia in the 2015 Broadway musical revival.