Desreta Jackson, best known for her role as Young Celie in The Color Purple, sat down in a recent interview and opened up about her life experiences in Hollywood and beyond.
As a guest on PopViewers, the actress opened up about experiencing a traumatic rape shortly after filming the award-winning movie. When asked about her character, Young Celie, and the harsh treatment she received on-screen and how it impacted her going forward, Jackson revealed the words aimed at Celie did not affect her until after the assault.
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“Right after that movie, I was raped, and to this day, in my mind, it was by a fan,” she remarked. “It was date rape. Back in that time, they didn’t have that term.”
“It was about two years or a year-and-a-half after the movie released and it was very impactful because at the time, coming back trying to go to auditions, that’s when I had this fragile…this thing. I couldn’t get past the rape. And the rape led to a pregnancy. My mother was very much like, well it’s your fault in a way…you knew the person.”
She continued to discuss how the comments made fictionally against Celie began to make their way into her reality.
“It was going back in the industry trying to find myself through this trauma, and then hearing things, or being told you’re too dark…I needed to heal. I needed to walk away at that time. That’s when I noticed those comments may have taken more effect.”
Jackson continued, “The comments about the movie referring to the movie or referring to my worth. That is when it became overwhelming.”
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In addition to her film career, Jackson is also the CEO of a beauty brand, Blacksilk, and began working as a hairstylist herself. She shared with PopViewers how Oprah Winfrey played a part in revealing to her clients that she was a lead actress in The Color Purple.
“Oprah outed me. They called me for the reunion and I came out, I had just had a baby. I wasn’t in the industry,” she said. “Imagine what it was like going back home. “
Jackson also shared that she is back working on film projects, however she could not release any details.
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