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Oprah Winfrey originally debuted in Hollywood with the 1985 Steven Spielberg-directed film The Color Purple. Her depiction of Sofia marked her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Decades later the media mogul has joined hands with the legendary director Spielberg to produce a new adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. The musical drama stars Halle Bailey, Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, and Danielle Brooks. In an exclusive interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Winfrey explained why Beyoncé wasn’t cast in the latest version. “To be completely honest about it, if you were doing this film for $30 or $40 million, the interest in the cast would be very different,” she said.

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“Once the film moved to $90 to $100 million, then everybody wanted us to bring Beyoncé. ‘Can you get Beyoncé or can you get Rihanna?’” She further stated. “So we’re sitting in a room saying, ‘Listen, we love Beyoncé. We love Rihanna, but there are other actors who can do this job.’” She added.“It wasn’t even a negotiation, because you’re not getting Beyoncé.”

“I do remember conversations about, ‘Y’all, Beyoncé is going to be busy this year.’ It wasn’t even a negotiation, because you’re not getting Beyoncé.” As per Today, Henson, who is part of the new cast added, “The first movie missed culturally,” Henson said. “We don’t wallow in the muck. We don’t stay stuck in our traumas. We laugh, we sing, we go to church, we dance, we celebrate, we fight for joy, we find joy, we keep it. That’s all we have.”

Winfrey had earlier told Essence that the movie had “changed her life for good”, “I can’t even begin to tell you what it means to be — a person who wanted nothing more in my life than to be in The Color Purple. And God taught me to surrender — that was the big lesson for me,” she said. “They were only offering $35,000 to be in this film, and it is the best $35,000 I ever earned.” “It changed everything and taught me so much. It is God moving through my life,” she added.

“I would have to say that [Warner Bros. co-chairs] Pam [Abdy] and Mike De Luca got it from the first time they saw the film, and understood that they heard me and heard Steven and heard the team when we said, ‘This is the reason why this has to be done.’ ” As per People, Winfrey revealed while discussing that the new project did face a few hiccups in the beginning. “You have to give us more money to do this because this is a cultural manifesto in a way for our community, and it deserves to have the support that’s needed to make it what it needs to be.” The new adaptation is a rendition of the Broadway musical that won a Tony Award in 2005. On December 25, The Color Purple will debut in theaters.