Fantasia and Danielle Brooks to star in 'The Color Purple' movie musical

Oprah Winfrey surprised an emotional Brooks with the casting news.

Getty Images, FILE

February 3, 2022, 8:34 PM

The forthcoming movie musical of "The Color Purple" has found its leading ladies.

"American Idol" season 3 winner Fantasia will play Celie and "Orange Is the New Black" alum Danielle Brooks will play Sofia, it was announced Thursday during ABC News' "Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Rising."

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The parts were made famous by Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey, respectively, in Steven Spielberg's 1985 film adaptation of Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel of the same name. Both actresses earned their first Oscar nominations for their work in the movie.

Oprah Winfrey is shown in a scene from the film 'The Color Purple', 1985.
Warner Brothers via Getty Images, FILE

A musical version of the iconic work took over Broadway from 2005 to 2008. Fantasia played the role of Celie from 2007 to 2008 during the original Broadway run. Brooks earned a Tony nod for playing Sofia in the Broadway revival, which ran from 2015 to 2017.

Winfrey surprised a very emotional Brooks with a Zoom call to tell her she landed the role, saying, "I am here representing all things purple to tell you that you are our Sophia. I'm so happy to pass whatever baton from 35 -- almost 40 -- years ago to you. And I know you're gonna kill it."

"My heart is so full," a teary Brooks said. "I'm going to make you so proud."

"You already have," Winfrey responded. "I wanted to be the one to tell you because you know I have such love for her, this character, everything she represents and everything she brought to my life. And what I'm hoping is that she does the same thing for you."

Oprah surprised Brooks with the major casting announcement in an emotional Zoom call.

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Actor Danielle Brooks will play Oprah’s Sofia in ‘The Color Purple’ reboot

Oprah surprised Brooks with the major casting announcement in an emotional Zoom call.

ABCNews.com

Spielberg's "The Color Purple" earned 11 nominations at the Academy Awards, including a nod for best picture. It was also nominated for five Golden Globes, with Goldberg winning for best actress in a drama.

The original Broadway musical won one Tony and the revival won two. They earned a combined total of 15 nominations.

Fantasia and Brooks join a star-studded cast including Taraji P. Henson, H.E.R. and Halle Bailey. The film, to be directed by Blitz Bazawule, begins production this spring and is slated for release in 2023.