Taraji P. Henson Cast in ‘The Color Purple’ Musical

Taraji P. Henson Cast As ‘Shug Avery’ in ‘The Color Purple’ Musical

The highly-anticipated film adaptation of the Tony award-winning musical ‘The Color Purple’ just landed a major star. In the form of Golden Globe winner Taraji P. Henson. According to recent reports, Taraji P. Henson has been cast to play the role of ‘Shug Avery.’ In the upcoming film adaptation of ‘The Color Purple.’

Coming off her crowd-pleasing role in the recent NBC live adaptation of ‘Annie!’ playing ‘Miss Hannigan,’ Taraji P. Henson is reportedly headed back to the big screen to flex her vocal chops once again. In the role originally played by Margaret Avery in the 1985 Oscar-nominated film, Taraji P. Henson is now set to tackle the role of ‘Shug Avery’ in the forthcoming film adaptation of the musical version of ‘The Color Purple.’

Back in August, it was announced that H.E.R. would be making her feature film debut in the project. In the role playing ‘Squeak.’ The highly-coveted roles of ‘Celie,’ ‘Mister’ and ‘Sophia’ have yet to be cast.

The Warner Bros. film is to hit theatres on December 20, 2023.

Directed by Blitz Bazawule, who is currently best known for his work on Beyoncé’s ‘Black is King’ and OWN network’s ‘Cherish the Day.’

Corey Hawkins (most known for portraying Dr. Dre in ‘Straight Out Of Compton’) will take on the role of ‘Harpo’ in the Broadway musical, which is also adapted from Alice Walker’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.

There will also be a strong presence of those who starred and collaborated on the 1985 film. Oprah Winfrey (who made her film debut as ‘Sophia’) will be producing through her Harpo Films. The film’s original director Steven Spielberg through his own Amblin Entertainment.

Quincy Jones produced and created the score for the original film and the Broadway musical, he will also produce this new adaptation. He will be joined by Alice Walker, one of the film’s multiple executive producers.