00:00 You said several times you relate a lot to your character,
00:05 Celie. - Yes, yes.
00:05 - Tell me about it.
00:07 (laughs)
00:08 - Well, I mean, if you watch the movie
00:11 and you see what she goes through,
00:13 then I think that says a whole lot.
00:16 You know, I went through a lot of things
00:19 at a very young age and so did Celie.
00:22 I had a child, not so young.
00:24 My first child was at 17 years old.
00:28 You know, I lost a lot in my life
00:32 and I had to go through a lot of hardships,
00:35 but they were necessary, even for Celie.
00:39 It was necessary 'cause in the end, she wins.
00:43 And so, Celie is very, very dear to me, very dear to me.
00:47 Playing her this time was totally different
00:51 from playing her on Broadway.
00:53 I was younger.
00:54 You know, my life was in shambles and so was Celie's.
00:58 So it was like carrying two crosses at the same time.
01:02 This time around, I'm much older, wiser, married.
01:05 I have two more children that I added to the bunch.
01:09 We can't forget about my little doggie, Lola,
01:11 so that means I have, you know, they're all my children.
01:15 And, you know, playing her this time around
01:19 with so many great actors and actresses
01:22 and doing it in a movie was totally different from Broadway.
01:28 So I had to tap in in a totally different way.
01:31 I had just started traumatic therapy
01:34 when I was asked to play Celie.
01:36 Traumatic therapy is them going back into your childhood
01:40 and digging deeper into things that you've suppressed,
01:44 forgotten, that may be hindering you from your adulthood.
01:47 I had to stop therapy.
01:50 Instead of my therapist doing the work,
01:52 I allowed Celie to do the work.
01:54 So that was very, very different for me.
01:58 There was a lot of outer body experiences,
02:02 but she and I are really close.
02:06 - Do you remember the first time you watched
02:10 The Color Purple by Steven Spielberg?
02:12 - Yeah.
02:13 - What went through your mind?
02:14 - Oh my God, a lot.
02:16 Somebody may not understand when I was at that age
02:22 watching Color Purple and I would be boohooing
02:24 and crying.
02:25 It was my first time seeing someone on a film
02:32 and on a screen that I could relate to.
02:35 It's like seeing what she went through
02:39 at such a young age.
02:40 And it was the first time that I also was a bit terrified
02:48 thinking, wow, they put that on screen.
02:52 Wow, they talked about that.
02:54 Or they showed that, right?
02:57 But I could not stop watching.
02:59 And I got the chance to talk to Whoopi Goldberg,
03:02 which was something that I always wanted to do.
03:04 There was no way I could come behind her
03:06 and try to do what she done, the foundation,
03:09 the ground that she laid for us.
03:12 So I wanted her to know, thank you for being such,
03:23 being an inspiration in my life
03:24 and showing me that girls that look like me
03:27 and that look like her can do this.
03:30 And so not trying to do,
03:32 'cause I could never do what she did,
03:34 but I wanted to bring that same thing with Sele
03:39 and allow her to completely take over my body
03:42 so that the girls up under me could see that same thing
03:46 that have been through some of the same things
03:48 and actually feel, heal and hold
03:51 and know that they could do whatever
03:52 They put their minds to.
03:54 (laughs)
03:56 (chewing)
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