Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Fantasia and H.E.R joins Oprah Winfrey for a roundtable discussion about their new film, The Color Purple.
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00:00 - One of the things I'm most excited about
00:02 is what this will do for the sisterhood.
00:05 I think that this is a movie that people
00:08 will celebrate with their families.
00:09 I thought what you shared with me today
00:11 about you bringing your family,
00:13 I thought, you know what,
00:13 I think I'm gonna bring my family too.
00:15 Bringing your family and families will come.
00:18 But something you said when we first met at CinemaCom
00:21 that was so powerful, you said,
00:24 women are the most powerful,
00:26 and I think that's what you said.
00:27 You said women are the most powerful,
00:30 you said women will be healed.
00:32 And I think women in particular
00:34 will be healed from this movie.
00:35 Didn't you all feel that when you were,
00:37 obviously, you know.
00:38 - Do you feel like we were healed?
00:40 - Absolutely. - Absolutely.
00:42 - And we also know where to go to
00:45 when we are still feeling broken.
00:47 (upbeat music)
00:49 (upbeat music)
00:52 - Finding out that I got the role of Sophia
01:03 for the second time.
01:04 (laughing)
01:06 We say it, yes.
01:08 Was like the best birthday gift ever
01:11 because it was two days after my birthday.
01:13 And I had been waiting, you know,
01:16 we have all went through our own processes and stuff.
01:19 And been waiting, waiting, and they tricked me.
01:22 - Of course. - You got me.
01:24 - We got you good. - How, how, how?
01:26 - 'Cause they were like, okay,
01:27 you got one more call with the director, Blitz.
01:30 I'm thinking at this point, I done had so many calls.
01:33 What you talking about?
01:34 I got another call.
01:35 So I said, okay, I'm gonna do this.
01:38 I'm gonna take ego out of this.
01:40 I'm gonna do this one more call.
01:41 So I literally, I remember the assistant saying,
01:44 so how's the process been?
01:46 I don't wanna talk about the process
01:48 with no assistant. - No way.
01:50 - I know, that was Joseph, my assistant.
01:51 - I said, you know what, I'm gonna be kind.
01:53 I'm gonna lead with grace.
01:55 And I said, it was good.
01:57 All of a sudden, Ms. Oprah Winfrey pops up on the screen.
02:02 As you can see in the video, I was very shocked.
02:06 And it just was like, OMG, like she chose me for this.
02:11 And then you said--
02:14 - We all chose you.
02:15 - Oh, yes you did.
02:16 - We all chose you, we all chose you.
02:18 - So, it was very, very special moment,
02:21 especially to get to share that with an icon like yourself.
02:25 - Yeah.
02:26 - For you to pass that baton.
02:27 - Well, I said I'm passing the baton.
02:28 I said I'm passing the baton.
02:30 I didn't realize in that moment
02:32 that you were gonna take that baton.
02:34 You was gonna run with it.
02:35 (laughing)
02:36 You said, I'm gonna finish this race right here.
02:39 - Yes, yes. - Yes, yes, you did.
02:41 - When you got a shot like this,
02:42 I feel like all of us feel this way.
02:44 You can't take advantage of that.
02:47 Like for you, Taraji, you've been able to do so much
02:51 with your career, and I feel like every time
02:53 you take a chance and you go for it and you run.
02:55 You know what I'm saying?
02:56 - And Taraji turned down an offer to do it on Broadway.
02:59 So, she did say yes this time.
03:01 - I did, I did, I did.
03:02 I was scared.
03:03 I was scared I was gonna blow out my vocal cords.
03:05 - Yeah, but you were ready this time.
03:06 - I was ready this time.
03:07 This is how you do it, one and done.
03:09 You go in the studio, you sing the song,
03:11 and then they play it on the set
03:15 so you don't have to really sing full out.
03:17 You do because it helps your acting,
03:19 but it's a difference between singing that one time
03:22 in the studio as opposed to singing eight nights.
03:25 You know.
03:26 - I do. - You know, yeah.
03:28 - But I must say, from spending time with you on set
03:31 and hearing your vocal.
03:32 - Out loud.
03:33 - Out loud, baby.
03:34 It's ready to sing more.
03:36 - Eight shows, okay.
03:37 - I'm sorry.
03:38 - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
03:39 - Whether it's Broadway or putting out an EP
03:41 or doing something, the world is gonna be shocked.
03:43 It's the truth.
03:44 It's the truth.
03:45 I think we all shocked each other on set.
03:48 - Yeah.
03:48 - And you gotta put out an EP.
03:50 I'm sorry.
03:51 - The pressure.
03:53 - The shocking.
03:55 - What?
03:56 - Miss her.
03:57 - Miss her.
03:57 - Doing her thing.
03:59 - I'm just happy to be here.
04:01 I'm just happy to be a part.
04:02 I never thought that I would be on a set with all of you.
04:06 It was such a great way to start for me.
04:09 - I remember we waited and waited and waited
04:11 'cause your people were like,
04:12 well, you know, she may be on tour.
04:14 Yes, maybe she may be doing this.
04:16 'Cause you have so many other things going on.
04:18 So I remember when Scott Sanders called and said,
04:21 she said yes!
04:21 - I was so excited.
04:24 I was like, oh my gosh.
04:25 And again, I was a little afraid.
04:27 I was like, wow.
04:28 Not afraid, but I was nervous
04:30 and I was taking on so much.
04:32 But everything happens for a reason and I'm so grateful.
04:35 I learned so much being around you guys.
04:37 And yeah, I'm just ready to do more.
04:40 - Yes.
04:41 - Well, you have it in you to do more for sure.
04:44 - Well, I will say that I was a little fanned out
04:45 because I listened to you all the time.
04:48 I'm for real.
04:49 And just meeting you, like you are sweet.
04:52 - Yeah.
04:53 - Sweet, kind, loving.
04:55 And I had a fan moment.
04:57 - But now we're having a fan moment.
04:59 - You are sweet.
05:00 You didn't deserve to get punched out by her.
05:02 You didn't deserve it.
05:03 - I didn't deserve it either.
05:04 - You didn't deserve it either.
05:06 - Sophia, Sophia, Sophia, Sophia.
05:09 - I saved my recording 'cause I don't answer calls
05:13 that I don't know.
05:14 And your number comes up unknown.
05:16 - Yes.
05:17 - And I was like, ooh, that must be a sales call.
05:18 I'm not answering that.
05:20 Tyler Perry hit me and was like,
05:21 are you answering your phone?
05:22 I was like, why?
05:23 He said, girl, just answer the phone.
05:25 And I was like, is he trying to tell me something?
05:28 And so I finally, they was like, that's Oprah calling you.
05:31 And I was like, Oprah's calling me.
05:33 (all laughing)
05:35 I'll never forget the day.
05:36 - I'm glad I have that effect on people.
05:37 - You do, you really do.
05:39 - You have no idea.
05:40 I'll never forget, I was sitting out back at my house
05:42 and I was sitting on the step, on the stoop,
05:45 outside in my backyard.
05:47 And I was nervous 'cause I was like,
05:49 what are you saying?
05:50 I was like, I was practicing my, hi, hello.
05:53 It's Oprah, Oprah.
05:54 You know?
05:55 And so finally she answered the phone and I said,
05:57 hello, and she said,
05:59 Sugae Ray is coming to town.
06:03 And I was like, oh my God, it's Athena Havis!
06:05 (all laughing)
06:07 It's the best moment ever.
06:09 Yes.
06:10 So I saved it and I really saved it on my hard drive.
06:14 - Really?
06:15 - Yes.
06:16 - Oh, I did.
06:17 - Okay.
06:18 - You have a moment like that too, right?
06:19 - Oh God, yeah.
06:21 I started shouting, I think.
06:23 - You started shouting?
06:24 - I started shouting, I ran through the house
06:25 'cause I just got through, I had my baby.
06:28 I was trying to bounce back, get back out there.
06:31 And I went through the same thing you guys.
06:35 Liz kept calling, doing auditions.
06:37 I kept thinking, this not gonna come through.
06:39 But at the same time, in the beginning,
06:41 I didn't want, I wasn't going to do it.
06:43 - You weren't gonna do it?
06:45 - Mm-mm.
06:46 - Because?
06:47 - I wasn't.
06:48 Because I knew I was gonna have to step
06:50 into some things that I had buried.
06:52 So I was living good.
06:56 I wasn't thinking about those things.
06:57 I wasn't, you know, I'm married now, I'm happy.
06:59 And Scott Sanders said it.
07:00 He said, "I know you're married, I know you're happy,
07:02 "but I need you to go back."
07:03 I said, "I can't, Scott."
07:04 But um.
07:06 - I'm so glad you decided.
07:08 - I'm so glad you decided, yes.
07:09 And do you know that when we did the original
07:11 almost 40 years ago, I must say, in 1985,
07:15 that Quincy Jones originally went to Tina Turner
07:19 to play Suge Avery.
07:20 - Mm, really?
07:21 - Yes, and they really wanted Tina to do it.
07:24 And Tina said, "I cannot step back into that world.
07:27 "I've already lived it with Ike.
07:29 "I cannot do it."
07:30 And so Margaret Avery stepped in
07:33 and did a magnificent job.
07:35 But so I understand that if you have actually
07:37 lived through it, that it is,
07:39 you have to go back through the trauma.
07:41 You have to relive a lot of trauma.
07:43 And was that the case for you during this filming?
07:47 - It was.
07:47 - It was?
07:48 - It was.
07:49 But I had an amazing cast to support me.
07:52 This one right here.
07:53 Golly.
07:55 - Well, I just kept her laughing.
07:56 - Yes, she did.
07:57 - You kept her laughing.
07:58 - She did.
07:59 - I know I've been doing this a little longer than y'all.
08:02 Over 20 years.
08:03 But I just know when you're doing something
08:05 so heavy like this, and it can be triggering,
08:09 that you have to learn to live in between takes.
08:12 And I would see you suck in,
08:13 and when they would yell cut,
08:14 I would go and do something silly
08:16 to bring her out of that.
08:18 You know, 'cause you can't stay in that.
08:20 - No.
08:20 - You can't.
08:21 - That's what I think you found too,
08:22 is the joy in between takes.
08:23 - Exactly.
08:24 - You learn that you can enjoy this moment
08:26 and it doesn't have to consume you.
08:28 You know, you can be you too.
08:31 - Exactly.
08:31 - That's something I've been living by a little bit,
08:33 because it's the sacrifice you make
08:35 sometimes for the art, right?
08:37 What's bad for the heart is good for the art.
08:39 And as storytellers, we take those chances
08:42 and we are in that position to go through things
08:45 and tell our stories in different ways.
08:47 And it's for like a greater good.
08:49 And you never know how many people you impact.
08:51 You're gonna impact so many people.
08:52 - So many people.
08:52 - So many.
08:53 - Because of what you did, you know?
08:54 And because of all that sacrifice.
08:56 - So this is how you know you're gonna impact people.
08:58 You all just saw the movie.
09:00 When you see the film for the first time,
09:02 most times when people see the film,
09:04 actors see the film for the first time,
09:06 you're only looking at yourself.
09:08 But when you see the film for the first time
09:09 and you get lost in it,
09:12 you know that if it impacted you
09:14 and you can get lost in it,
09:16 everybody else will too.
09:17 And the fact that you said, you know,
09:19 you lost to yourself.
09:22 Yeah.
09:23 - But I came out healed.
09:25 - Yeah.
09:26 - You know, I'm glad I did it.
09:27 I came out free from some things
09:29 that I was holding on to.
09:31 So yeah, it feels good now.
09:33 - Well, I was a virgin, so I had to do real hard work.
09:37 (all laughing)
09:39 - You know, I had said that,
09:42 I had said before that in order for,
09:45 that Suge Avery needed not just, you know,
09:47 a sense of sensuality and sexuality,
09:50 that she needed sexual wisdom.
09:53 And you brought the wisdom with you.
09:56 Yes, you did.
09:57 Yes, yeah.
09:58 - I just, something about women of that era,
10:01 you know, they were very sexy
10:04 because they left so much to the imagination.
10:08 So the sensuality was something that,
10:10 that came from the inside out.
10:12 You know, it wasn't about what you had on
10:14 'cause they were dressed like,
10:16 tied up, knotted up to the neck, you know.
10:19 But it was about, I mean, just the daintiness
10:22 and all the props, the gloves, the hat, the, you know,
10:26 everything that made you a lady.
10:28 You know, I just love period pieces
10:31 because you can't cheat.
10:34 You have to dig into somewhere deep
10:36 to find that sensuality.
10:38 You have to, because it's not,
10:40 it's really not in the clothes, you know.
10:43 - That was what was so much fun about playing Sophia.
10:45 It's like, I wanted to lean into her sensuality
10:49 because she's actually one of the characters
10:52 who has not been sexually abused.
10:55 Like, she has five, six kids 'cause her man loved her
10:58 and loved her thighs and everything in between.
11:01 So, so I just love that because, you know,
11:05 being a plus size girl, getting to show representation
11:09 that love for us doesn't have to come out of pain.
11:13 You know what I mean?
11:14 It can be true, genuine love for you and your body.
11:19 So that was always like a plus for me
11:21 that it wasn't coming out of trauma.
11:24 All of this beauty, all of these kids.
11:26 Yes, yes, yes, yes.
11:28 - For me, black sisterhood is everything.
11:33 I still have the same friends that I had, not all of them,
11:36 but my best friend is still my best friend
11:38 since the seventh grade.
11:40 - Wow.
11:40 - She runs my mental health foundation.
11:42 I still have a core group of girls
11:45 that they don't even live in LA.
11:47 They don't have anything to do with the business
11:50 and they care.
11:51 Like, they can tell by the way I say hello on the phone
11:54 that something's not right and they will get on the plane
11:56 and they will fly out and see about me.
11:58 I just, I've always been a girl's girl.
12:02 I love women, I love girls, I love, I'm the girl's girl.
12:07 Like, if I have on something,
12:08 I'll tell you where I got it from
12:09 and girl, you need to see this person
12:10 'cause he'll give you the discount.
12:12 Like, I share.
12:13 And I guess I get that from my mother.
12:16 There were eight children, she had five sisters.
12:18 We lost one, Tani, rest in peace.
12:20 And just growing up around my mom
12:23 and all her girlfriends always coming,
12:25 they're still very close.
12:27 And just seeing them talk about shoes
12:29 and I just always been around women
12:33 in these incredible, loving relationships
12:37 and I was always an only child.
12:39 So I was close with my cousins
12:41 and so I just carried that into the industry
12:44 and I remember when I first got to Hollywood,
12:46 it was like one black woman at a time
12:47 and that never made sense to me
12:49 because I was like, we have so many stories to tell.
12:53 And I never hated on anyone, I always congratulated
12:57 and lifted women up because I just feel like
13:01 we are so much more powerful in numbers.
13:04 Like, if we hang in there and stick in together,
13:07 we could take over the world, like we really could.
13:10 And so I've always been a firm believer in that.
13:13 That's why that hug that went viral
13:18 when Viola and I were up for the Emmy at the same time,
13:21 like that was genuine, that's visceral.
13:23 That flows, that wasn't even thought about,
13:25 I just did it because that's just in me.
13:29 That's just who I am and that's what I used in this
13:33 as Suge, Suge comes and she saves the women
13:38 because she saved herself.
13:41 Like, she didn't fall to what the men were telling her
13:45 or her trauma or her pain.
13:47 She knew that she was more than that
13:50 and she found the strength in herself to get away and fly.
13:53 And when she saved herself, she was able to save others.
13:57 - You're right, she saves everybody
13:59 because Sophia didn't need saving.
14:01 - No.
14:02 - She saves everybody but in the end,
14:04 at that dinner scene, that incredible dinner scene
14:07 when Squeak says that you wanna go to Memphis
14:11 'cause you gonna sing, 'cause you gonna sing.
14:14 That's an empowered moment also.
14:16 - Yeah, and I was just saying,
14:18 I've actually lived that sort of moment.
14:21 Like, growing up being an artist, wanting to be an artist
14:25 and having a dream and not knowing whether or not
14:27 it's possible and taking a chance on yourself
14:29 and having someone to look up to.
14:32 That's very real for me and I look up to all of you
14:35 and I looked up to all of you on set.
14:37 So I was living that in real life
14:39 and following your lead on set.
14:42 Like, oh wow, okay, I see what's going on
14:45 and just being kind of the new kid in school,
14:47 feeling like, okay, I got this.
14:50 But I've lived that, I've arrived,
14:53 really stepping into my womanhood,
14:56 really stepping into the artist that I wanted to become,
14:58 the woman that I'm becoming and still stepping into that
15:01 at only 25, just still discovering who that is
15:05 and what I want that to look like.
15:06 So I felt that from her
15:09 and we are one in the same.
15:11 So that, you know, I'm Mary Agnes, like that was real.
15:14 It's like, I'm her, you know, I'm Gabriella, you know?
15:17 And I felt confident in that
15:19 and I think it shows on screen
15:22 and I was really proud and excited about that.
15:24 - It absolutely shows on screen.
15:25 - One of the things I'm most excited about
15:27 is what this will do for the sisterhood.
15:31 I think that this is a movie that people will celebrate
15:34 with their families.
15:35 I thought what you shared with me today
15:37 about you bringing your family,
15:38 I thought, you know what?
15:39 I think I'm gonna bring my family too.
15:41 Bringing your family and families will come.
15:44 But something you said when we first met at CinemaCom
15:47 that was so powerful, you said, "Women will be healed."
15:52 And I think women in particular
15:53 will be healed from this movie.
15:55 Didn't you all feel that when you were,
15:56 obviously, you know.
15:58 - Do you feel like we were healed?
16:00 - Absolutely. - Absolutely, right?
16:02 - And we also know where to go to
16:04 when we are still feeling broken.
16:06 Like I was telling you,
16:08 I was having a really rough week a few weeks ago
16:11 and I just went to the park
16:12 and something told me to turn on the color purple tracks.
16:16 And I started listening to you saying, "I'm here."
16:19 And it healed me.
16:21 I just, like, just listening to the words, you know.
16:25 And there's one particular part,
16:26 I wanna make sure I get it.
16:28 - Don't make me cry.
16:32 - Gonna take a deep breath, gonna hold my head up.
16:36 - Put my shoulders back.
16:37 - And look you straight in the eye.
16:39 - I'm gonna flirt with somebody.
16:41 - Yes.
16:42 - I'm gonna sing out, I'm gonna sing out.
16:45 This part, I believe I have inside of me
16:49 everything that I need to live a bountiful life.
16:52 I needed those words, you know.
16:55 So I just, because I have been with this for so,
16:58 and I know you've been with it as well,
17:00 but been with this so long,
17:02 this music is timeless.
17:04 This story is forever.
17:06 And it's just that thing you can go back to
17:09 and get to hear black women's voices tell you
17:13 that you are here, you are beautiful, you are enough.
17:16 It's gonna be special.
17:19 - It's gonna be so healing.
17:20 Bring your sisters, bring your cousins
17:22 and your mothers too.
17:24 You know what I love?
17:24 Marcus Garley said today, our writer said,
17:28 "What's wonderful about the music in this musical
17:32 is that it comes from a natural place."
17:34 Didn't you all feel that?
17:35 So when Suge Avery is stepping into that joint to sing,
17:40 Push the Button, it feels like the most natural thing.
17:42 'Cause we've all seen those musical where people are like,
17:45 "I've got a teacup, I've got a teacup."
17:47 (laughing)
17:48 - I'm like, "Violin, violin, oh, here comes the song."
17:50 - And here comes the song.
17:51 - And dance number.
17:52 (laughing)
17:53 - And a dance number.
17:54 (humming)
17:56 We're sitting at the table.
17:58 (laughing)
17:59 - It's all organic.
18:00 - But every single, every piece of music in this version
18:05 comes from a real space.
18:09 So it feels like when you start singing "Hell No,"
18:12 there's nothing else to do but sing it.
18:14 - That's right.
18:15 - It's pretty incredible.
18:17 - It's a celebration of us.
18:18 - It's a celebration, yes.
18:19 - By the way, my husband sang "Hell No" all night.
18:21 (laughing)
18:24 All night, I'm like, "Babe, I'm telling you,
18:26 this is really good."
18:27 - So this is not just an anthem for women?
18:29 (laughing)
18:31 - Hell, hell, hell, hell.
18:33 I love the choreography in there too.
18:35 - Yeah.
18:35 - Me too.
18:36 - Fatima did her thing.
18:37 - Fatima did her thing.
18:38 - She's amazing.
18:39 - Did she not?
18:40 She did.
18:40 - It made us feel so comfortable
18:42 because dancing is not my first, second, or third language.
18:46 (laughing)
18:47 - I remember the day during "Miss Celia's Pants"
18:49 when you're like, "This man is gonna have to lift me."
18:52 (laughing)
18:53 - I mean, y'all, I am a 200 pluser
18:55 and the fact that they had like a 150 pound man wet
19:00 carrying me.
19:02 Yo!
19:03 - It didn't over, it didn't over.
19:06 - You're out front doing the blah, blah, blah, blah.
19:08 - That made me feel so comfortable.
19:10 - Yes, thank you brother.
19:11 I don't remember his name, but thank you.
19:13 - You had my back, literally.
19:14 (laughing)
19:16 - Yes.
19:17 - So, shout out to Fatima.
19:19 - But she kinda wrong for that.
19:20 (laughing)
19:22 - No, I was upset.
19:24 I remember you walking to set
19:25 and I say, "How you doing?"
19:26 She go, "This little man gonna have to pick me up."
19:28 (laughing)
19:31 Stretch my leg and do a kick.
19:33 - We were splitting.
19:35 - But you, tap dancing.
19:37 - Yes, girl.
19:38 - Oh, you killed it.
19:39 - That was amazing.
19:40 - Learning tap dancing is so hard, I hear.
19:43 - It was hard.
19:44 Those young people though took time with me,
19:46 worked with me, and it was hard and it hurt, but we did it.
19:50 - And those shoes, oh my gosh.
19:52 - Yes, you were so good.
19:55 You should be really proud of yourself.
19:56 - Yes.
19:57 - 'Cause she kept hearing, "I'm so nervous, I'm so scared."
20:00 Are you over that now?
20:01 'Cause you should be.
20:02 - I'm over it, but I'm not like Gab.
20:05 I was on set with some big dogs.
20:08 - You a big dog now.
20:10 - Yeah, I was gonna say, you a big dog.
20:11 - But I need you to understand that.
20:13 Like, I was on set with some big dogs
20:15 and y'all are our Oscar.
20:17 - Aw.
20:18 - You know what, I just say thank you for that
20:21 'cause I have been, I don't know if it's imposter syndrome
20:24 or what, but there's moments where you just
20:27 don't feel that way.
20:28 You feel like, what am I doing?
20:31 - But maybe that's necessary 'cause for us,
20:34 looking at you guys and even being there with,
20:37 like I was fanned out and I kept saying to myself,
20:41 "Okay, you gotta stuff your game up
20:43 "'cause you on set with some," you know?
20:45 So I don't wanna try to be nice.
20:46 - But I feel that now and I can hear that now,
20:50 not in a humbling way, not in like a costly way.
20:53 Exactly, I can receive that.
20:54 - Well, you know what is so interesting?
20:55 When we met a couple months ago, you were saying,
20:58 "I don't think, you know, Miss Ho,
21:00 "I don't think I wanna see it 'til Christmas."
21:02 I said, "Oh no, oh no, no, no, no, no, no."
21:05 - And weren't you pleasantly surprised?
21:06 - That's not gonna happen.
21:07 - I knew it was gonna be good,
21:08 but it's like so overwhelming because--
21:10 - I go, "No, you need to see what you've done.
21:12 "You need to see it and you need to feel it
21:14 "and you need to recognize it."
21:15 'Cause it's one thing when you're doing it on set,
21:18 as you all can, everybody, you certainly do know,
21:21 but it's another thing when it has all come together,
21:24 when it has all come together.
21:26 And you're gonna be talking about it,
21:28 you need to know what that power is.
21:30 - Yeah, you're right.
21:32 - I know I was.
21:33 (laughing)
21:35 - I was unprepared for how everything just came together.
21:39 That's my first time seeing myself
21:41 on such a big screen like that, you know,
21:43 in a full-on, like crazy, amazing cast,
21:47 these heavy hitters, like, it was my first time.
21:49 So I was literally laughing at my own self
21:52 and I know all the lines,
21:54 but I was like, it was my first time seeing it,
21:56 you know, and hearing those words.
21:58 But I literally laughed at our scene.
22:01 Like, I was dying laughing.
22:02 I know you were going through a whole rollercoaster
22:04 of emotions the whole time.
22:06 - Oh yeah, but I laughed, cried, yeah.
22:08 (laughing)
22:10 - When y'all tissues drenched.
22:10 - I think Felicia was like, "Pfft."
22:13 (laughing)
22:18 - No, I was like wanting to, like,
22:20 you know that cry where it's like, "Ugh."
22:23 Like, I had to hold it back.
22:24 - I think I had an outer body experience.
22:27 Like, I kept pinching myself, like,
22:29 am I, I'm really in this, like.
22:32 Because this is a piece that, this is forever.
22:34 This lives forever.
22:35 - It does, it does.
22:36 - It's like Shakespeare, it's never gonna go away.
22:39 I said today, if the human race ceases to exist
22:42 and some other being comes down to earth
22:45 and inhabits the land,
22:47 they are going to find some form of the color purple
22:51 and we will be in that, you know what I mean?
22:53 It's just, and so that's what I was dealing with.
22:56 I just kept going, is this real?
22:59 (laughing)
23:00 - I was doing the same thing, too.
23:02 - That's really interesting because you do a lot of films,
23:04 but you have done other classic films.
23:06 Hidden Figures will also be forever.
23:08 This is different because it has its own legacy.
23:10 - Exactly.
23:11 - It has a legacy from the first book Alice Walker did
23:14 in 1983 and then our version in 1985
23:17 and then the musical 2005 and again 2015.
23:22 And now here we are.
23:23 - Here we are, like huh?
23:25 - It just keeps evolving.
23:26 - Yes.
23:27 - Yeah, for the next.
23:28 - What do you think would be the next?
23:29 - I don't even know what the next,
23:31 that's gonna be up to y'all, okay?
23:32 (laughing)
23:33 - You're like, I did my work.
23:34 - I have done, it's full circle for me,
23:37 because when I was in it in 1985,
23:40 I was begging Steven Spielberg and Quincy Jones
23:42 to put my name on the poster
23:43 and they were like, your name can't go on the poster.
23:45 I said, well, you know, everybody says I'm gonna be famous.
23:48 And I remember--
23:49 - Oh, now look.
23:51 - Well, no.
23:52 And so my name actually wasn't,
23:54 and Steven said, no, but you have a favorite nation's
23:56 contract and your name isn't on the poster.
23:59 And this was the year before we went national
24:02 with the Oprah Show and I said, okay.
24:04 And so I have to tell you, when I was 31 when I did it
24:08 and when I turned 42, Quincy Jones had a birthday party
24:12 for me and he had a poster made with my name on it.
24:17 Included in the credits.
24:17 - You know what they say.
24:18 - You know what they say?
24:19 - The good Lord works in mysterious ways.
24:22 (laughing)
24:24 - I would say, thank you, Ms. Whoopi Goldberg,
24:31 for not being afraid, being honest, for this.
24:40 Thank you for paving the way for girls like myself.
24:45 That's all.
24:46 - And Ms. Avery, you just taught me how to be sexy
24:50 and how to just revel in it and lean in
24:55 and feel all the feels and love myself
25:00 and see myself as a fully realized sexy woman.
25:04 Thank you.
25:05 - 'Cause you are, baby.
25:06 - I know, but you know, this industry can do a job on you.
25:10 You know, and make you, give you some insecurities,
25:13 you know, and when I found Ms. Shug Avery,
25:17 she just made me feel like a woman.
25:21 Like, it was okay to be sexy.
25:25 You know, 'cause I was the one that always covered up
25:27 and I was quite, I was awkward.
25:29 I didn't feel right in my body.
25:31 So to see this beautiful black woman on the screen,
25:35 fully realized, made me feel seen.
25:38 Like, so thank you.
25:39 And she played my mom in a movie too.
25:43 (laughing)
25:45 - From Ms. Squeak, Ms. Rae Dawn Chong,
25:48 thank you for giving me an opportunity to show myself.
25:52 You know, a lot of people know me and my music,
25:55 but they don't really know me.
25:56 And I think people got to see,
25:59 or they're getting to see a fun side.
26:02 They're getting to really see me, you know,
26:05 like who I am and me having fun and feeling empowered
26:10 and what that really looks like for me.
26:13 So yeah, I thank Squeak.
26:17 - Well now. - That's pretty cool.
26:20 (laughing)
26:22 And I don't know if I can do this without crying.
26:25 - Oh, it's okay. - 'Cause this is special.
26:27 - I know. - It's gonna be special.
26:28 - Baby girl. - Thank you.
26:30 That was two words.
26:33 Thank you.
26:34 First of all, for getting off that fat phone.
26:37 (laughing)
26:40 'Cause I know you was going around that track.
26:43 - Praying and crying. - Praying and crying
26:45 and praying and crying.
26:46 And I just thank you for surrendering to God
26:51 and his plan for your life.
26:54 You have shown me how to do that.
26:57 Thank you for laying the blueprint of Sophia
27:01 because I know that she's changed your life
27:04 and I can feel that mine is about to shift too.
27:06 - Come on. - So thank you for also
27:10 leaving space and room for me to do me,
27:15 but also being there to hold my hand
27:20 and answer that phone call when I needed you to.
27:23 You have just been such a light, such a beautiful soul.
27:28 And I thank you and I promise that I will also
27:31 pass that on as well.
27:33 So thank you.
27:34 (clapping)
27:36 Thank you for that.
27:50 Thank you.
27:51 Thank you all for this.
27:55 This is a full circle moment.
27:57 I can't even begin to tell you what it means
28:03 to me who wanted nothing more in my life
28:07 than to be in the color purple.
28:08 I have never wanted anything more.
28:10 And God taught me to surrender
28:15 so I didn't have to want anything more.
28:17 That was the big lesson for me.
28:19 I learned to surrender in the process
28:23 because I too auditioned and waited and waited
28:27 and waited and waited and then went to the fat farm
28:29 and was running around praying and crying
28:31 and singing I surrender all.
28:33 And I remember my lawyer at the time
28:37 had negotiated for me to be in the movie.
28:40 They were only offering $35,000 at the time.
28:44 And my lawyer was saying, you can get 50.
28:45 And I was saying, please don't ask for more.
28:48 Don't blow it, don't blow it.
28:50 And it is the best $35,000 I ever earned
28:53 because it changed everything and taught me so much.
28:59 And to start in a film,
29:02 that was the first time I'd ever been on a movie set,
29:05 not to mention being in a film.
29:08 So much so that the very first day I walked in,
29:10 because I'd been on TV my whole life,
29:13 I walked in and my first scene was in the jute joint,
29:17 was in the jute joint.
29:19 This is my boyfriend Buster.
29:20 And I walked in and I looked straight in the camera
29:24 and Steven Spielberg went, what are you doing?
29:27 (all laughing)
29:29 'Cause I walk in, I'm looking for the camera.
29:32 Nobody ever told me, he goes, Celie's over here.
29:36 (all laughing)
29:38 I was that much of a, I didn't know what I was doing.
29:41 And so from that to be asked by Scott Sanders
29:45 to be a part of the production in 2005,
29:48 and now we're bringing this film full circle.
29:53 It is God moving through my life
29:56 and to have all of you beautiful black women
30:00 as bearing witness to the story as the story moves forward.
30:05 And I so believe that what Fantasia has said is true,
30:11 that everybody who comes to see our film
30:14 is going to be touched, it's gonna be moved,
30:18 it's gonna be filled with some laughter and some joy,
30:21 and they will be healed.
30:23 And they will be healed.
30:24 So thank you for the blessing.
30:26 And this is what I wanna say to you all.
30:28 The participating in the Color Purple
30:32 and all the magic that it brought into my life,
30:34 because for me, it was watching Quincy Jones
30:38 and Alice Walker and Steven Spielberg every day on set.
30:42 And even when I wasn't working, I wasn't on call,
30:46 I would go to set just to watch the others.
30:49 And the passion and the devotion and the commitment
30:53 and the love I saw from the crew,
30:55 I said, "I wanna work like that.
30:59 "I wanna create the kind of business
31:01 "that where people come to work every day,
31:03 "they feel like, even if I didn't have to be here,
31:06 "I wanna be here."
31:07 And so I learned so much from the process
31:10 and grew so much from the process,
31:11 it literally changed the trajectory of my life.
31:14 I ended up with my own studio,
31:15 because when I came to audition after Steven had said,
31:18 "Leave that fat farm," and I came out to Los Angeles,
31:22 and I saw Steven Spielberg had his own,
31:25 he had his own studios.
31:27 And I was like, "Oh, that's interesting.
31:30 "That's interesting."
31:33 Yes, and so I built from everything I learned
31:37 during this whole process,
31:39 and now to have you all be the carriers
31:43 of the light going forward is just, it is God.
31:46 It is God.
31:47 - It's God.
31:48 - Yeah, it is God.
31:49 - It is God.
31:51 so thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah.