The Colour Purple actress Danielle Brooks heard about her first ever Oscar nomination while filming a new movie in New Zealand. Photo / Instagram @thedaniellebrooks
The Colour Purple actress Danielle Brooks heard about her first ever Oscar nomination while filming a new movie in New Zealand. Photo / Instagram @thedaniellebrooks
Actress Danielle Brooks found out about her Oscar nomination while shooting a brand new film in New Zealand.
The 34-year-old American actress is understood to be in the country filming the upcoming Minecraft movie with Jack Black and Jason Momoa. While getting a well-deserved sleep on January 23, she was woken up by a call from her family, telling her she had just been announced as a nominee in the Best Supporting Actress Oscars category for her role in The Color Purple.
Posting a video to Instagram, the former Orange Is the New Black star looked disorientated and sleepy as she put the phone on speaker and said “I’m up”.
Her husband - Dennis Gelin, 38, then says “Mama, you did it.” The couple’s young daughter, Freeya Carel can be heard in the background celebrating for her mum causing the actress to begin crying.
“I’m also a little sleepy so I really still don’t know what’s going on”, she laughs before having a conversation with Oprah Winfrey - who starred as the same character as Brooks in the 1985 version of the film and served as a producer in the 2023 remake, and her friends before breaking out in a celebratory dance.
Captioning the post, she wrote, “I am still processing the fact that I became an Academy Award Nominee yesterday for a role that means everything to me. The Color Purple has changed my life in ways I don’t think I’ll ever be able to express but MY GOD!! Look What God Has Done!”
She thanked the Academy for acknowledging her work in the film.
Many friends and fans took to the comment section sharing their support for the star including co-nominee America Ferrera - nominated for Barbie, who posted crying emojis followed by laughing emojis adding, “so incredibly deserved”.
Danielle Brooks and Oprah Winfrey both played Sofia in The Color Purple Photo / Getty Images
Winfrey’s team wrote, “We love this so much! Oscar-nominated actress for life”, with Octavia Spencer adding, “Crying with you. Kick those doors open lil sis! Kick them open like Sofia! Thrilled for you.”
Brooks - who plays the outspoken Sofia in the film, is the sole nominee from the production despite there being high Oscar hopes. She has previously earned an Emmy and a Tony nomination and became a Grammy winner in 2017 for playing the same character on The Color Purple’s Broadway show.
In a post shared on January 13, the actress paid tribute to her character’s strength and to her predecessor writing, “Playing Sofia has been the highlight of my career. Getting to live in the complexities of who she is - the quiet moments, the strong ones, the joy and sorrow - have all shaped me for this moment in time.
She continued to say watching the story on Broadway as a teenager inspired her to chase her dreams and attend Juilliard, while “watching Ms. Oprah breathe life into Sofia on film” and being nominated for her portrayal of the character on stage at 25, has all inspired her to find her “freedom”.
The film - which also stars Fantasia Barrino, Halle Bailey and Taraji P. Henson, is adapted from the 1982 Alice Walker book of the same name and follows the life of Celie (Barrino) who is torn away from her family going on to face many hardships in life, including an abusive husband.
Brooks is set to be in New Zealand for a little while longer to film the Jarred Hess-directed film Minecraft. As well as Black and Momoa, the cast is rumoured to include The White Lotus star, double-Emmy-award-winning actor Jennifer Coolidge.
The movie revolves around the malevolent Ender Dragon setting out on a path of destruction, prompting a young girl and her group of unlikely adventurers to set out to save the Overworld. Other cast members include 21-year-old Netflix star Emma Myers, also reportedly starring in the film, in which Momoa is working as both a producer and talent.
Lillie Rohan is an Auckland-based reporter covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2020. She specialises in all things relationships and dating, Kiwi celebs we can’t help but love and TV shows you simply cannot miss out on.
