Oprah Winfrey talks bringing a familiar face into The Color Purple remake as she calls cameo a ‘wonderful Easter egg’ for fans of the film

Oprah Winfrey explained Whoopi Goldberg's cameo in the musical remake of The Color Purple.

The former daytime talk show host, 69, produced the film and decided to drop a little inside joke for fans of the 1985 film in which she played Sofia.

In the remake – which had the second-highest Christmas Day opening of all time – Whoopi Goldberg, 68, makes a cameo as a midwife during the scene where Celie – who she played in the original film – has her second baby.

'[We] “I just thought it was a wonderful Easter egg for the audiences who have appreciated the film over the years, for the diehards,” she said The Hollywood Reporter.

She added, “And we thought it was a nice tribute to Whoopi, too.”

Winfrey was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Steven Spielberg film.

But she decided that only Goldberg's cameo was necessary.

“Actually, I thought about it: it would have been good in the church scene, but I thought it would also be distracting when Sofia gets married, if the old, original Sofia was just one of the people in the church, and then they were that was filming in the middle of Georgia when COVID was around [spreading] like, 'Okay, I'm not going to sit in that church all day,'” she told the outlet.

“And I just think it's more special that it's just Whoopi,” she added.

1985's The Color Purple was Oprah's first film and her first time on a film set. In a separate interview, she recalled her nerves and the mistakes she made.

“I had never been in a movie, been in a movie, knew nothing about filmmaking, but wanted to be in The Color Purple more than anything in my life,” Winfrey said during a recent interview on The Drew Barrymore Show.

She said that on her first day of filming with costar Goldberg, she looked straight into the camera.

“Steven yells, 'Cut! Cut! Cut! What are you doing?'” the media mogul explained.

'[I said], “Um. I was just doing my lines.” He said, “What are you doing looking into the camera?” I say, “I'm not supposed to look at the camera?” He says, “No! Mrs. Celie is here!”'

'I did not know. I did not know. “I had never been on a movie set,” she added.

In the remake, Whoopi Goldberg, 68, makes a cameo as a midwife during the scene where Celie – who she played in the original film – has her second baby (Goldberg depicted in the original film)

The former daytime talk show host, 69, produced the film and decided to drop a little inside joke for fans of the 1985 film in which she played Sofia.

The remake had the second highest Christmas Day opening of all time

'[We] I just thought it was a wonderful Easter egg for the audiences that have appreciated the film over the years, for the diehards,” she told The Hollywood Reporter.

She added: “And we thought it was a nice tribute to Whoopi too.”

The media mogul played Sofia in the 1985 film and was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role

And now she has co-produced the show with Spielberg.

'So the circle is complete!' Winfrey said of reuniting with Spielberg. 'Look, God is looking at me! I think it's so incredible.'

The new movie musical stars Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson and Colman Domingo.

The film had the biggest Christmas opening since 2009's Sherlock Holmes with $18 million on opening day.