Taraji P. Henson Says Original ‘The Color Purple’ Film “Missed Culturally”
In a recent feature with The Hollywood Reporter, Taraji P. Henson opened up about her appreciation for the anticipated musical remake of The Color Purple, in which she plays Shug Avery. Henson also called out flaws in the original 1985 film — expressing that it “missed culturally” when it came to displaying resilience amid traumatic experiences.
“The first movie missed culturally,” she said while sitting besides the film’s stars, Danielle Brooks and Fantasia Barrino. “We don’t wallow in the muck. We don’t stay stuck in our traumas. We laugh, we sing, we go to church, we dance, we celebrate, we fight for joy, we find joy, we keep it. That’s all we have.”
She added, “We don’t have power. We are continuously oppressed, kept under a thumb. So what else can we do but laugh and celebrate life? We have to, otherwise we would die. So as soon as you see the first frame, you’re going to know that this movie is different. The coloring is different. It’s light, it’s bright, it’s vibrant. It’s us.”
Henson takes on the role of Shug Avery, originally played by Margaret Avery. In the first film, Shug’s character battles with living a secular lifestyle and still keeping faith in the church. She ultimately takes control of her life and career through helping Celie (originally played by Whoopi Goldberg) heal through her own traumas.
Further in the interview, Brooks and Henson also spoke on how the trio (Barrino, Henson, and Brooks) formed a sisterhood over the last two years of filming. The actresses spoke about production in a way that seemingly served as a form of therapy. The three not only connected with one another based on their experiences in the film industry as Black women, but also through sharing their own personal past traumas.
“It has been real with each other. I think that’s been the beauty of all of this, we don’t have to sugarcoat things with one another,” Brooks said. “We can have deep conversations about the hurt and pain we’ve been through in this industry.” Henson chimed in declaring, “Me and the sisterhood is real. Everything I do, I’m doing so that I can pass the baton, because eventually the torch is being passed. I’m not going to do this forever. But for you coming up behind me, I just want you to have an easier road.”
Winfrey, who serves as producer on the remake, also interviewed alongside the leads speaking to her life-changing experience working on the original film.
“One of the reasons why I was praying, praying, praying that the strike would be over is because I so wanted this experience, the experience that I had with The Color Purple in my life, to be shared by all of these women,” Winfrey emotionally expressed. “I thought, ‘If the strike doesn’t end, they will never get to have that ride.’ And there’s nothing like that ride. There’s nothing like being out in the world, being able to talk about it and to share the beautiful energy of everything that Alice wanted when she wrote that story. And so there’s not a person on this film who doesn’t realize that the film is bigger than all of us.”
Take a look at the official trailer for The Color Purple below and read the film’s feature in its entirety on The Hollywood Reporter here.
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