Singer Fantasia Taylor and actress Danielle Brooks are set to star in Warner Bros.’ big-screen adaptation of the award-winning musical “The Color Purple.”News that Taylor and Brooks will play leads Celie and Sofia, respectively, was announced Thursday during ABC’s “Soul of a Nation: Screen Queens Rising” special. Warner Bros., like CNN, is a division of WarnerMedia.
Both actresses reprise their roles from the stage production. While “American Idol” season 3 winner Taylor made her Broadway debut as Celie in the original production back in 2007, Brooks’ onstage performance as Sofia in the show’s revival earned her a 2016 Tony award nomination
On Thursday night, Taylor, 37, shared a clip of the phone call confirming she had been cast in the leading role with her 4.6 million Instagram followers
As I sit tonight and reflect on the journey my life has taken I believe I now understand what Redemption truly feels like. The last time I stepped into this character, the similarities between what I portrayed on stage and what I experienced in my own reality were too close for comfort. I’ve learned since then that my pain was only an introduction to a greater purpose of meaning and assignment,” the caption read. y.
