The Colour Purple is an iconic story, previously brought to life through Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and later through the Broadway stage, and it has once again been reimagined for the silver screen with the gospel embedded in more than just the story.

In this latest adaptation, the film ingeniously employs gospel music not only as a cultural touchstone but as a spiritual undercurrent that carries the characters through their journeys. Premier Gospel sat down with three of the stars of the film Fantasia, Danielle Brooks and Corey Hawkins, to talk about how gospel is at the heart of not only their lives but the film too. Brooks said having gospel music in the film felt very natural to them, stating: “we grew up in a church, my mother's a minister and my daddy's a deacon so I spent 24/8 in church. I was there all the time. It was part of who I am.”

With so much of the cast being from a church background we asked them about how they felt being around so much gospel music. Fantasia, who plays Cecile in the film, said it was a wonderful experience, touching on how gospel runs through all music and culture: “there is gospel in everything. What I loved about it was Blitz [the director] took it and gave you a little bit of jazz, of hip hop. That's how it [music] all was created. When we were out in the fields, we weren’t only singing gospel, there’s cadence, there’s rhythms. It was gospel driven, but it wasn't just gospel and that is how we as people have created music.”

“We need it to survive” Hawkins chimed in with a deeper thought on how because gospel music is at the heart of all music it’s why it’s so powerful. “That's where it starts for us. Like you said it is culture. It is not just black culture. So it's not just music, it's a message, and it's a culture.”

“Think about ‘Wade in the Water’ that was because Harriet Tubman was trying to tell people ‘alright it's time to get off the trail and it's time to go into the water.’ It's so spiritual. It was our freedom” said Brooks.

Gospel music clearly has an impact on all cultures and we hope all those watching the film will get a glimpse of the glory of God. 

You can watch our full conversation on YouTube.