Jon Batiste is having the biggest year of his lengthy career in 2022. He kicked things off by winning five Grammy awards including Album Of The Year earlier this month. He received the honor thanks to the critical acclaim behind his sixth album We Are. Now, Batiste is gearing to bring that same success to the big screen as it was recently announced that he would be making his acting debut in the remake of The Color Purple. According to Deadline, Batiste will play Grady, a sweet-talking and charming piano man who is also the husband of Shug Avery (played by Taraji P. Henson).
The Color Purple remake has been in the works since 2018. Steven Spielberg (who directed the 1985 film), Quincy Jones (who produced that same take), and Oprah Winfrey (who was nominated for an Oscar as Sofia) are listed as the producers for the remake. Blitz Bazawule, who directed Beyoncé’s visual album Black Is King, signed on as a director and Marcus Gardley from The Chi is writing the show’s script.
Batiste joins Ciara, Fantasia Barrino, and Danielle Brooks in the upcoming film’s cast with the latter two reprising their roles of Celie and Sofia. Other names in the case for The Color Purple remake include Colman Domingo who will play Celie’s abusive husband, Mister, Halle Bailey who will play the young version of Celie’s sister, Nettie, and HER who will play Squeak.
