Taraji P. Henson Cast as Shug Avery in New The Color Purple Adaptation
Blitz Bazawule’s adaptation of The Color Purple just got a whole lot better. Oscar and Emmy-nominated actress Taraji P. Henson has signed to the project.
Taraji P. Henson is joining H.E.R. and In The Heights actor Corey Hawkins in the forthcoming Warner Bros. movie, The Color Purple. Bazawule is the latest of several adaptations done over the years, both on Broadway and the big screen. The most famous adaptation is arguably Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film of the same name. His film featured a star-studded cast that included Margaret Avery, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, and Oprah Winfrey. The film went on to receive eleven Academy Award nominations, including Best Supporting Actress nods for Avery and Winfrey for their roles as Shug Avery and Sofia.
The Color Purple is a 1982 epistolary novel written by Alice Walker. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction the following year. The story centers around Celie Harris, a woman who documents her life-long struggles as an African American woman living in the South during the early 1900s. The Color Purple broke the mold when it came to discussing sensitive topics such as domestic and sexual abuse, companionship/relationships, pain, and resilience. It is a deeply moving novel that remains an enduring classic in modern American literature.
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” Author of The Color Purple, Alice Walker pic.twitter.com/ipnr0vW6zq
— Fannie Lou Hamer’s America (@FLHAmerica) October 18, 2021
Bazawule’s film first revealed that Corey Hawkins would be joining the cast. Hawkins is cast as Harpo. In August, Grammy and Oscar-winning singer H.E.R. also joined the cast. The “We Made It” singer is making her acting debut portraying Squeak, a juke-joint waitress-turned singer who writes her own material.
“I just get chills.” Corey Hawkins says he received a note from writer Alice Walker after being cast as Harpo in a new “The Color Purple” musical film. pic.twitter.com/NOdTVGlc47
— AP Entertainment (@APEntertainment) January 31, 2022
On February 1, it was revealed that Empire actress Taraji P. Henson will be joining Hawkins and H.E.R. Henson is playing Shug Avery, the beautiful blues singer who famously gets described as a “loose woman.” The actress is over-the-moon about the iconic role.
Blitz Bazawule’s adaptation of The Color Purple is off to an exciting start. We cannot wait to see who else will be joining the film. Be sure to purchase Alice Walker’s The Color Purple at select bookstores. Steven Spielberg’s adaptation is available to stream on Netflix.
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