Fantasia Reveals Why She Turned Down New ‘Color Purple’ Movie & What Changed Her Mind (Exclusive)

Fantasia Barrino is making her return to the musical version of “The Color Purple,” this time on the big screen.

The singer and actress was honored at Variety’s Power of Women event at Citizen News in L.A., and had a full-circle moment chatting with “Extra’s” Terri Seymour, who had covered her when she won “American Idol” way back in 2004!

Fantasia got emotional seeing Terri on the carpet, saying, “This takes me back… wow, to ‘Idol.’”

Terri noted, “Twenty years ago.”

Fantasia replied, “I went through a lot after and I am here today, and now we are back — that’s crazy.”

Seymour told her, “You’re about to win an Oscar.”

Barrino insisted, “Don’t say that! I’m so scared.” Getting emotional, Barrino said of working with producer Oprah Winfrey on the making of “The Color Purple,” “My first big movie… I didn’t see it, I didn’t expect it.”

Seymour pointed out, “You have been through a lot,” to which Fantasia replied, “Oh, yeah.”

Barrino first stepped into the starring role of Celie in the original Broadway production of the musical in 2007, yet in spite of the accolades it brought, she turned down the film version at first.

“When they came to me and asked me to play it again, I said no at first,” she confided to Terri. “I didn’t think I would have the chance to do Celie again. I didn’t think I’d have love, true love ever. I was 19 when I won ‘Idol.’ I was young. I was green from Highpoint, North Carolina, I trusted everything and everyone, but I believe that everything I went through was necessary to make me the woman I am today.”

Explaining turning down Oprah, Fantasia said, “I respect her to the fullest, but I remember playing Celie when I was younger and it was heavy and I said, ‘No, I am happy now. I am married,’ and I didn’t want to go back there.”

Lucky for us all, the film’s director, Blitz Bazawule — who also directed Beyoncé’s visual album “Black Is King” — was able to persuade Barrino to change her mind.

“Blitz... called me and showed me that he was giving Celie an imagination, and I said, ‘I’ll take it,’ because I think that in the Broadway play, Celie was very silent… We, as women, we say it in different ways... She needed to speak, and the young generation needed to hear it, so when he gave her an imagination, I said, ‘You know what? Let’s go.’”