SUCOPRESS/Raquel Laguna. Actress TARAJI P. HENSON stars in THE COLOR PURPLE, directed by Blitz Bazawule. In this interview, Taraji talks about her character in the film, about what drew her to this project and about the message of the movie. 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 What attracted you to this project?
00:03 I didn't want to do it.
00:05 I didn't understand why we were doing
00:08 a remake of something so incredibly classic,
00:10 like we don't need to touch it.
00:12 But we did need to touch it, because you
00:14 know why, it's our story.
00:15 It's a black-- it's a story that Alice Walker wrote
00:21 about black people and their struggles.
00:24 But even though it's a black struggle,
00:27 it transcends color, race, gender, religion.
00:31 Because at the very base of it, it's a story about humanity.
00:36 You know, we all have struggles.
00:38 We, as humans, we fall, we get up, we transgress.
00:44 We have transgressors that we need to forgive.
00:47 And that's what life is all about.
00:51 And what do you like the most about your character?
00:54 This woman who breaks the rules, do you play to her in any way?
01:00 I love playing women like that.
01:04 You know, Cookie was one.
01:06 Even Katherine Johnson, in her quietness,
01:10 she was a quiet storm, you know?
01:14 I just love us.
01:16 I love women, because I know what we go through.
01:18 I am one.
01:19 And I just love us so much.
01:21 And whenever I get a chance to play a role like that,
01:25 even Cookie, who--
01:27 if you didn't know why she was the woman she was,
01:30 you might just stereotype her.
01:32 You might just look at her, but she's just
01:33 a loud, black, sassy woman.
01:35 But it was important to me to show
01:37 the why she was the way she was.
01:40 Just like it was important for me to show
01:41 why Suge was the way she was.
01:43 Because she was the Cookie of the 1920s, you know?
01:47 That was a time when women were supposed
01:49 to be seen and not heard.
01:50 And this woman went against the grain.
01:52 She even-- her father kicked her out and left her
01:57 to the streets.
01:58 And so she's running, and with this man and that man,
02:00 chasing the love of her father.
02:02 And it was a woman who taught her
02:05 what real love looked like.
02:08 They taught each other.
02:09 Celia and Suge saw each other.
02:13 These are women who hadn't been seen.
02:15 And it's weird, because Suge has all these eyeballs on her.
02:19 But these people are sexualizing her.
02:22 And they're looking at her because she's pretty
02:24 and her talent.
02:24 But no one is really looking into her soul
02:27 to see her and her hurt and the things that make her tick
02:31 or the things that make her happy.
02:32 Not even the man she's going to see
02:34 missed her who she has children with.
02:38 Do you remember the first time you
02:41 watched "The Color Purple" by Steven Spielberg,
02:44 and what went through your mind?
02:47 Wow.
02:48 For me, I was 15.
02:51 And I started understanding that it was
02:58 acting that I wanted to do.
03:01 And when I saw all of that incredible black excellence
03:05 on the screen, that's when I knew
03:08 I could make my dreams come true.
03:11 I was like, I could do that.
03:12 And I want to do work like that.
03:14 I want to do work that if humans are gone from this Earth
03:20 and some alien form comes down and dig up a time capsule,
03:24 they will find me in "The Color Purple."
03:26 [LAUGHS]
03:28 (laughing)