Ciara joins ‘The Color Purple’ movie musical cast
The singer will play the adult version of Nettie in the movie musical joining Fantasia, H.E.R. and Halle Bailey
Ciara is joining the cast of The Color Purple movie musical. The Grammy-winning singer will be portraying the adult version of Nettie, whose younger version will be played by singer Halle Bailey, according to Entertainment Weekly.
This is Ciara’s fourth movie role. She previously starred in 2006’s All You’ve Got and 2010’s Mama, I Want To Sing! The “Goodies” singer also appeared in 2012’s That’s My Boy, starring Adam Sandler. She played herself in a recurring role on the popular BET series, The Game.
Nettie is the beloved sister of the film’s protagonist, Celie, played by Fantasia Barrino, who is reprising the role that she played in the Broadway version.
Ciara joins Barrino, Bailey, and H.E.R., who is playing Squeak, in her first film role. Taraji P. Henson has already been cast as Shug Avery, David Alan Grier as Reverend Avery, Corey Hawkins as Harpo, Danielle Brooks as Sofia, Colman Domingo as Mister, and Louis Gossett Jr. as Ol’ Mister. The Color Purple will be written by Marcus Gardley and directed by Blitz Bazawule.
Bazawule gained acclaim as a director on Beyoncé’s Black is King film. The movie musical, produced by Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg reunites the two, as Winfrey produced the Broadway musical and played Sofia in the 1985 film. Spielberg directed the film based on Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
In 1985, The Color Purple received 11 Academy Award nominations and its 2005 Broadway musical adaptation received 11 Tony Award nominations. In 2015, the Broadway revival won two Tony Awards, including Best Revival. The adaptation is being helmed by Warner Bros. and is slated for a December 2023 release.
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