SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “The Color Purple,” in theaters now.
As The Color Purple director Blitz Bazawule and his star-studded cast made their press rounds ahead of the musical film's Christmas Day release, they made a special trip to visit The View and Whoopi Goldberg, who starred in the 1985 film adaptation Starring from Alice Walker's classic novel.
It's been nearly 40 years since Goldberg played Celie, an abused and uneducated black woman from the South whose journey to liberation is at the center of Walker's story. Bazawule and stars Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks and Taraji P. Henson wanted to give her their flowers.
“'The Color Purple' is sacred ground. “You don’t just show up without offering or contributing something,” Bazawule said when Goldberg asked why he decided to commit to the film. “It was a brilliant, Pulitzer Prize-winning book. It's an incredible classic film. And we owe you one.” Henson led the studio audience in a standing ovation for Goldberg.
The 1985 Steven Spielberg-directed film marked Goldberg's film debut and her performance earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. She didn't win the award, but it was the first step on Goldberg's journey to becoming the first black woman to achieve an EGOT (winning an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony).
“We wouldn’t be here without you,” Brooks said to Goldberg, who was visibly touched by the praise as everyone took their seats.
But what the studio audience and viewers at home didn't know was that Goldberg not only inspired the filmmakers behind the latest version of “The Color Purple” – she also made a cameo appearance in the film.
“We had to keep quiet about their involvement from the start. Only the key crew knew Whoopi was playing the role,” Bazawule tells Variety, explaining that he was supposed to keep the secret until after the film's theatrical release. “Also, we haven’t mentioned her in any press and she wasn’t mentioned for the role.”
The magical moment comes at the beginning of the film when teenager Celie (Phylicia Pearl Mpasi), pregnant with her second child by the man she knows to be her father, goes into labor. Her sister Nettie (Halle Bailey) runs to get the local midwife – played by Goldberg.
“You are doing well, Miss Celie,” says Goldberg, making the birth easier for the young woman. “You just have to push again.”
As she passes the newborn boy into his mother's waiting arms, Goldberg passes the torch to the next generation of Celies. It's a touching, tasteful cameo that underscores why Walker's story is timeless and worth telling again and again.
The surprise appearance marks another way the 2023 film continues the legacy of the 1985 film; It is produced by Spielberg and Quincy Jones, who were behind the adaptation, as well as Oprah Winfrey, who received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance, and Scott Sanders, who directed the production of the Tony-winning Broadway musical adaptation .
“I always knew I wanted a connection between the original cast of The Color Purple and the new cast. The obvious person was Whoopi because she's synonymous with the title,” explains Bazawule, saying that he and screenwriter Marcus Gardley talked back and forth about how best to incorporate Goldberg into the story. “We chose the midwife because of the symbolic encounter.”
Gardley explained the symbolism in an interview with the Los Angeles Times: “She's the one who not only encourages them during birth, but it's like she gave birth to the role herself and now we see her passing it on.” It's one of the most beautiful scenes as you see [Goldberg] look [Mpasi] full of pride and told her: 'You can do it.'”
Writing the perfect role was just the first step. Someone had to approach Goldberg about taking the role, so Bazawule called.
“It was probably one of the most nervous calls ever,” he says, looking back on the fateful conversation. “She was warm from the start and then at the end she said, 'Blitz, the only way I won't be there is if I get hit by a bus.' I burst out laughing. It was the best phone call ever.”
Just like filming the cameo itself, the director won't say when, where or if the final cut was shown to Goldberg, but given the warm reception she gave Bazawule and the crew during her “View” appearance, one might assume that she is satisfied.
Winfrey, for her part, described the cameo as both “a wonderful Easter egg for the audiences who have appreciated the film over the years, for the die-hard fans” and “a beautiful tribute to Whoopi.” She also told that she declined to make a cameo in the film because she feared it would be distracting if she appeared in the scene where Sofia (Danielle Brooks) and Harpo (Corey Hawkins ) marry.
“Plus, I think it’s even more special that it’s just Whoopi,” Winfrey said.
Whoopi Goldberg in “The Color Purple” from 1985. ©Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection