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Why Fantasia Barrino Agreed to Star in ‘The Color Purple’ After Swearing She Never Would · Direct From Hollywood with Ryan Seacrest

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  Speaker 1: Direct from Hollywood with Ryan Seacrest.
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  Speaker 2: Back in oh seven, Fantasia Burno played the role of
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  Speaker 2: Ceely in the Broadway rendition of The Color Purple Music
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  Speaker 2: when it was not a positive experience. The darkness the
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  Speaker 2: character endure proved too much for Fantasia to bear for
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  Speaker 2: eight shows a week, and it took its toll on her.
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  Speaker 2: When the gig ended, she said she'd never play Sey again.
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  Speaker 2: But as the saying goes, never say never. Fantasia is
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  Speaker 2: back as Seeley in the film adaptation sixteen years later.
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  Speaker 2: It wasn't an easy decision. It was only made after
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  Speaker 2: the director of Food to North Carolina to convince her,
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  Speaker 2: explaining how much more the audience would learn about Seely,
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  Speaker 2: and Fantasia herself learned to see the character in a
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  Speaker 2: different light as well. Telling Variety, I realized that Celi
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  Speaker 2: was not ugly or crazy. Ceely was not illiterate. Nothing
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  Speaker 2: about her was dumb. She was the piece to the
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  Speaker 2: whole puzzle that kept everybody together. I'm grateful that I
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  Speaker 2: did not allow those voices in my head to hold
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  Speaker 2: me back from stepping into this woman's shoes. It was
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  Speaker 2: important that I did the Color Purple arrives Christmas Day.
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  Speaker 1: That's direct from Hollywood.