Trivia for
The Color Purple (1985) More at IMDbPro »

• Producers Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy cast Margaret Avery as Shug Avery after Tina Turner turned it down.
  
  
• Whoopi Goldberg's first feature film.
  
  
• Oprah Winfrey's first movie.
  
  
• Jointly holds the record (with The Turning Point (1977)) for the film with most Oscar nominations without a single win (11).
  
  
• Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah Winfrey Oscar-nominated for their feature film acting debuts in this film.
  
  
• Steven Spielberg had producers Peter Guber and Jon Peters banned from the set. He did this because of their history of offering "suggestions" during production.
  
  
• "Town" scenes in the movie were filmed in Marshville, North Carolina. A key electrical pole could not be taken down in the middle of the street so a tree was built to hide it.
  
  
• Shooting for town scenes frequently had to be put on hold due to freight trains passing by the edge of the set.
  
  
• Director Trademark: [Steven Spielberg] [father] Nettie's father
  
  
• Steven Spielberg admits that his greatest mistake in directing this film was his lack of courage portraying the lesbian relationship between Celie and Shug. At the time of filming, Spielberg feared that overt sexuality between the two characters would alienate audiences, a decision he now regrets.
  
  
• Author Alice Walker was uneasy about Steven Spielberg's appointment to direct the film; however, she was confident in a then-unknown Whoopi Goldberg after seeing her San Francisco stand-up routine in which she portrayed many different characters.
  
  
• Oprah Winfrey was at a "fat farm" to lose weight when she learned she got the part of Sofia. She had to leave immediately, as the role required her to be heavy.
  
  
• A film adaptation of Alice Walker's novel was so highly anticipated, auditions for the film had to be held under the code "Moon Song".
  
  
• Caused one of the most controversial moments in the history of the Academy Awards when it received eleven nominations which did not include Steven Spielberg as Best Director. In the end, it won none of them.
  
  
• Patti LaBelle auditioned for the role of Shug Avery.
  
  
• Phyllis Hyman was the original choice for the role of Shug Avery.
  
  
• Steven Spielberg's baby was born during the filming of this movie, and in the scene where young Celie gives birth to the baby, the sound of the baby crying is the actual sound of the Spielbergs' baby crying.
  
  
• Alice Walker (author of the novel) attended the rushes at the end of filming each day, yet she was horrified with the final cut of the film, especially what she referred to as the "Oklahoma"-type opening scene. However, at the premiere, when she watched the movie with an enthusiastic audience, she changed her mind. She now says she likes the film very much, but thinks of it as being very different from her book.
  
  
• Whoopi Goldberg won the part of Celie in her audition for Steven Spielberg, by doing a comedy act she had developed about a stoned E.T. getting arrested in Oakland for possession. The audition was attended by many of Spielberg's famous friends, including Producer Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson.
  
  
• Harpo's name is actually Oprah spelled backwards and is the name of Oprah Winfrey's production company.
  
  
• Sofia's speech at the dinner table was an ad lib prompted by Steven Spielberg, in the middle of filming the scene. He asked Winfrey to express to Celie how she felt that day when she saw Celie in the store, as Sofia was shopping for Miss Millie.
  
  
• Director Steven Spielberg is the one whistling (on the soundtrack, along with the music), as Harpo sits whistling while his children are taken from him one by one.
  
  
• Alice Walker (author of the novel) may have had doubts about Steven Spielberg directing, but was at least partially convinced when she saw E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982). After seeing the film, she felt that E.T. was treated like "a person of color".
  
  
• In the Turner Classic Special "Spielberg on Spielberg", Steven Spielberg cites The Color Purple (1985) as his first "serious" film. And that he would have not been able to do Empire of the Sun (1987) and Schindler's List (1993) without the stepping stone that was this film.
  
  
• Brandon Victor Dixon was nominated for the 2006 Tony Award (New York City) for Supporting or Features Actor in a Musical for "The Color Purple" in his role as Harpo.
  
  
• Lola Falana and Diana Ross turned down the role of Shug Avery.
  
  
• Before production, Steven Spielberg felt very insecure about being director of the film. In fact, his initial response to Quincy Jones' request was no. Spielberg felt that his knowledge of the deep South was inadequate and that the film should've been directed by someone of color, who could've at least related to the struggles faced by many blacks living in the old south. Quincy Jones then argued, "No, I want you to do it. And besides, did you have to be an alien to direct ET?" Spielberg appreciated his friend's logic and decided to take the role as director of the film.
  
  
• The stage musical adaption of the movie opened at the Broadway Theater in New York on December 1, 2005, ran for 910 performances and was nominated for the 2006 Tony Awards for the Best Musical, Book and Score.
  
  
• Second of two Best Picture nominees to receive 11 nominations without winning any Academy Awards.
  
  
• The first PG-13-rated to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.
  
  

Related Links