Why Steven Spielberg was reluctant to make ‘The Color Purple’
Even though it marked his first significant shift into the realm of drama after becoming the poster boy for crowd-pleasing blockbusters, Steven Spielberg wasn’t entirely convinced he was the right person to direct The Color Purple.
It’s easy to suggest that he was, in hindsight, considering his moving and powerful adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel won plenty of acclaim from critics and became an awards season favourite. However, despite notching ten Academy Award nominations, including ‘Best Picture’, it went home empty-handed, and Spielberg wasn’t even shortlisted in the race for ‘Best Director’.
With the power of hindsight, the filmmaker has admitted there were several things he would have done differently were he to make The Color Purple today, revealing that his decision to play down a love story between two female characters was the wrong call in retrospect.
Spielberg’s apprehension dogged him from day one, though, even if the initial announcement of his involvement came with the news he’d waived his usual $15million directing fee in favour of accepting the Directors Guild of America minimum salary of $40,000.
There was, of course, controversy to contend with, too, as many possessed doubts over whether or not Spielberg – despite his many undoubted qualities – was capable of doing justice to the source material given that it told a black woman’s story through the eyes of an experience the director was wholly unfamiliar with.
It was producer Quincy Jones who lobbied for the Jaws and Indiana Jones megaphone-wielder to get the job, something that Spielberg still couldn’t quite wrap his head around decades later. With the recent musical remake having just released, the architect of its forebear was inevitably pressed for comment.
“You need a black director for this. That was in 1985, when I said that to Quincy,” Spielberg shared with Vanity Fair before a quick-witted response from the music mogul swayed his thinking. “But he said, ‘Did you have to be an alien to direct E.T.?'” he continued, “Quincy was very persuasive.”
Having the full support of the author was also key, with Spielberg reassured by the fact “Alice was on set every day, and Alice was very quiet on the set”. He may have been one of the biggest names in Hollywood, but he was nonetheless keen to make sure he was getting it right.
“After every take, I turned to look at her, and her deeply quiet confidence and those warm eyes told me – because this was my first grown-up movie – told me after every take, ‘You did a good job. Keep going’,” he recalled. With Walker present and giving her full backing, Spielberg was instilled with “all the confidence, the assurance” to make The Color Purple in a way that would live up to expectations.
