Danielle Brooks (‘The Color Purple’) on her standout performance as Sofia: ‘I feel like it’s my time’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

“I’m just continuing to remind myself to breathe,” says Danielle Brooks when asked about her recent Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress. She plays Sofia in Blitz Bazawule‘s “The Color Purple,” a role she earned a Tony nomination for on Broadway in 2015. “It’s been a whirlwind. I’m in awe that these moments are hitting me. I feel like it’s my time.” Watch our exclusive video interview above. 

Brooks was thrilled to revisit the character of Sofia on a film set. “With theater, after you do previews you lock the show,” she explains. “I played Sofia for a year, and there’s so many new discoveries that come up. You just start to see things differently. These discoveries emerge, but you cannot act upon them because that could change the whole show. So it can be stifling in the creative process. Getting to do the film process, being in Georgia and having the Georgia sun hit my face every day. I’m in the elements. I get to use all five senses. I got to use all of my creative juices because [Blitz] was so open to hearing what the actor wanted to bring to the character.”

SEE Fantasia Barrino (‘The Color Purple’) on why she had to play Celie: ‘I never gave up and I never gave in’

“Sofia is one of the most radical characters in our story,” Brooks explains. “We’re coming off of slavery. These are first-generation free people. It was such a radical act for her and Harpo to build their own home. To have five, six children. Having Black children when they were killing our children, taking our children away from us, to have that was a radical act. I’ve gotten so many gifts from this character, but there’s still so much more I learn about myself and the power I possess. That’s the exciting thing about what this is about to do for women. I truly think this is going to set some women off in the best way.”

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