‘American Idol’ Alum Lands Lead Role in ‘The Color Purple’ Musical Adaptation

With films like West Side Story, In the Heights, and Tick, Tick… BOOM! revitalizing the Hollywood musical, Warner Brothers is getting in on the game and adapting the Broadway show The Color Purple into a film. American Idol season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino has been tapped to star as Celie, and Orange Is the New Black star Danielle Brooks will costar as Sofia. Both actresses originally played the roles on Broadway, with Barrino playing Celie in the show’s original run in 2007 and Brooks playing Sofia in the 2015 revival with a performance that earned her a Tony nomination. Taraji P. Henson, Corey Hawkins, and H.E.R. will reportedly round out the cast.

Based on the classic novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple tells the story of Celie, a Black Southern woman who struggles to find her place In the world after a lifetime of abuse. Steven Spielberg also adapted the novel into a celebrated film starring Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey in 1985. Blitz Bazawule, who directed Beyonce‘s groundbreaking Black Is King, is set to direct this adaptation.

“If you really put yourself in her shoes, that can be very tiring,” Barrino told Playbill.com about playing Celie. “It can take a lot of energy out of you. I know when I get off the stage at night from shows, I’m exhausted. I run to my room, and I fall on the couch, and I have to take at least about ten minutes to wind down and to get my thoughts together and come out of the part of Celie.” 

Barrino also revealed that The Color Purple was the first musical that she had ever seen. “I had seen the movie, but it’s such an inspirational play,” she said in 2007. “I was crying. I was saying, ‘Oh, Lord, I hope I’m not the only one crying!’”

Winfrey was a producer on the award-winning Broadway show, and she served as a mentor for Barrino during the show’s run. “Oprah gave me a lot of advice. She sat me down … Just, you know, how a lady should carry herself. How to manage your money. How to not put your trust in everybody. Just watch your back,” Barrino told PEOPLE in 2008. “But most of all, you have to watch what you do. You have to carry yourself in such a way. You have to just watch your every move and carry yourself as a lady. So other young ladies who are watching you will know this is how you do it.”