- Fantasia Barrino plays the role of Celie in "The Color Purple," out in theaters Monday.
- A viral clip of her singing during a table read has amazed fans on social media.
Fantasia Barrino has played the role of Celie, the protagonist of Alice Walker's book "The Color Purple," twice now.
First on Broadway from April 2007 to January 2008. And currently in the musical box-office hit produced by Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg that opened on Monday.
According to the Associated Press, it was a role she was reluctant to repeat — but she eventually agreed to take the part.
"I'm glad that I didn't allow my fear of my past experience with Celie, because of where my life was at that time, to hinder me from doing something great," Barrino said. "I'm riding on a high right now."
On social media, fans agree that she was the right choice for the part.
A new clip is circulating on X, previously called Twitter, that shows Barrino during a table read for the production, when actors read through the script together.
Barrino is seen singing "I'm Here," one of the most famous songs of the movie, with only a small microphone clipped to her shirt. Fans were astounded at the raw power of her voice without any accompanying instruments or vocals.
Fantasia Barrino singing “I’m Here” during a table read for ‘THE COLOR PURPLE.’
— Film Updates (@FilmUpdates) December 25, 2023
In theaters from today. pic.twitter.com/jCJDSroT1x
"Wow, her performance was incredible! She truly brought the character to life," wrote X user @franklyankish.
"For Fantasia to be moving me like this and this was on the table read," wrote user @Boytrapbradshaw on a different version of the video that was posted on December 24, "y'all better go support The Color Purple tomorrow."
"I'm eternally grateful for Fantasia," said @iamMelsmith. "What a voice. What a soul."