Oprah Winfrey reveals how much she was paid to star in her debut film The Color Purple… and explains why it was ‘best’ money she’s ‘ever earned’
Oprah Winfrey was still in the early stages of building her media empire when she landed her first acting role in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 classic The Color Purple.
Now, almost 40 years later, the 69-year-old media mogul – who recently spoke out about Hamas attacks – is producing the long-awaited musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
She opened up in a new cover story in Soul about how much she was paid for the role that earned her her first Oscar nomination: $35,000.
Oprah sat down with stars of the new musical such as Taraji P. Henson (Shug Avery), HER (Squawk), Daniel Brooks (Sophia), Fantasia Barrino (Sally) and more in a sprawling cover story.
Winfrey admitted that she “wanted nothing more in my life than to be in The Color Purple,” playing Sophia in the film, a role now held by Danielle Brooks.
First Role: Oprah Winfrey was still in the very early stages of building her media empire when she landed her first acting role in Steven Spielberg’s 1985 classic The Color Purple
Producer: Now, nearly 40 years later, the 69-year-old media mogul – who recently spoke out about attacks on Hamas – is producing the long-awaited musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel
“I can’t even begin to tell you what that means to me—a person who wanted nothing more in my life than to be in Purple,” Winfrey said.
“And God taught me to surrender — that was a big lesson for me.” They were only offering $35,000 to be in this movie, and that’s the best $35,000 I’ve ever made,” she said, a sum in 1985 dollars that amounts to just over $100,000 in 2023, when adjusted inflation.
‘It changed everything and taught me a lot. “God is moving through my life,” she admitted.
“And having all you beautiful black women bear witness to the story, as the story progresses, means so much,” she added.
“I believe that what Fantasia said is true: everyone who comes to see our film will be moved.” They will be moved. And they will be healed. So, thank you for the blessing,” Oprah told the cast.
Alice Walker’s original novel follows Sally, a Southern woman struggling to find her way through life in the early 1900s after decades of abuse.
Walker became the first black author to win the Pulitzer Prize and also won the National Book Award.
Although the story remains extremely popular, it is often targeted by censors, and the American Library Association listed it as one of the 100 most controversial books between 2010 and 2019.
Nothing more: “I can’t even begin to tell you what that means to me — a person who wanted nothing more in my life than to be in The Color Purple,” Winfrey said
Surrender: “And God taught me to surrender — that was a great lesson for me.” They only offered $35,000 to be in this movie, and that’s the best $35,000 I’ve ever made,” she said, with the sum in 1985 dollars amounting to just over $100,000 in 2023, when adjusted for inflation. .
Learned so much: ‘It changed everything and taught me so much. “God is moving through my life,” she admitted
Original: Alice Walker’s original novel follows Sally, a Southern woman struggling to find her way through life in the early 1900s after decades of abuse
The book was then adapted into a Broadway musical, which debuted in 2005 and earned 11 Tony Award nominations.
Fantasia Barrino replaced LaChanze as Sally on Broadway in 2007, and the musical received an acclaimed revival in 2015 with Cynthia Erivo as Sally, Jennifer Hudson as Shug and Danielle Brooks as Sophia, who returned to play the role in the film.
The musical film adaptation also stars Halle Bailey as Nettie, Aujana Ellis-Taylor as Mom, Coleman Domingo as the Gentleman, Corey Hawkins as Harpo and Lewis Gossett Jr. as the Old Gentleman.
The film is currently slated for Christmas but, like many other productions, could be pushed back if the SAG-AFTRA strike continues.