The original movie version of The Color Purple reached the big screen in 1985 and became a Broadway production in 2005. Now, the musical has been adapted into a new film.

The 2023 movie was filmed at several locations around Georgia, including Atlanta, Savannah and Macon.

At a press conference in Vinings on Thursday, actor Louis Gossett Jr. said the film industry and storytelling have changed dramatically since the 1980s.

“The stories are much more internationally universal, that everybody must know about,” he said. “It's got to go even further to the truth. There's no pain in the truth, and people still worry about the truth being painful.”

Gossett, 87, talked about making history as the first Black actor to win a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role in 1982's An Officer and a Gentleman and the fourth Black Oscar winner overall (after Hattie McDaniel, Sidney Poitier and Isaac Hayes).

He said working in the Peach State reminds him of past roles here.

“Filming in Georgia is like going back home because we had Roots [the 1977 television miniseries based on Alex Haley's novel of the same name] in Savannah," Gossett said. “So, that's the original story. Very accurate and very bold of ABC [the network on which it aired]. And they were worried about that, but they did the right thing.”

The Color Purple is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 1982 novel written by Alice Walker, a native of Eatonton, Ga.

Tags: Atlanta  Savannah  Macon  Georgia  Georgia Film  Georgia film industry  The Color Purple  Movies