Oprah Winfrey addresses Beyonce or Rihanna casting choice for ‘The Color Purple’

Oprah Winfrey has recently addressed challenges she faced while filming the new musical adaptation of The Color Purple.

In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday, Winfrey said, “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.”

Winfrey, who starred in the 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel and produced the new movie, told the outlet, “Once the film moved to $90 to $100 million, then everybody wants us to bring Beyoncé,”

“‘Can you get Beyoncé or can you get Rihanna?’ 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,’” revealed the former talk show host.

Winfrey was told that Beyonce might be “busy this year,” however, “it was a topic that wasn’t on her mind”.

“It wasn’t even a negotiation, because you’re not getting Beyoncé,” said the actress and producer.

Recalling the time when she and her fellow producers, Steven Spielberg and Quincy Jones would request Warnes Bros. for financial assistance.

“I would have to say that [Warner Bros. co-chairs] Pam [Abdy] and Mike De Luca really 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,’” she spilled to THR.

Explaining to Warner Bros, Winfrey added, “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.”

Meanwhile, The Color Purple will release in theatres on December 25