She was feelin’ blue during her Broadway run.
Fantasia Barrino revealed Saturday that she “hated” playing Celie in the Broadway rendition of “The Color Purple” in 2007 because of trauma from a sexual assault that resurfaced when she took on the role.
“That was around the time that my life was so crazy, so it was almost like carrying my cross and Celie’s cross. I didn’t know how to come out of the character,” Barrino, 39, told People.
Nevertheless, Barrino reprised her role as Celie — who was also a victim of sexual assault — in “The Color Purple” film, which was released last week.
The songstress revealed that she almost didn’t accept the part when director Blitz Bazawule asked her to star in the film.
“I was like, ‘I’m not sure if I can do it or if I want to,’” Barrino told People.
However, Bazawule was able to change her mind by saying he would tweak Celie’s story.
“He showed me he was giving Celie an imagination this go-round for audiences to see how she got through,” Barrino said, adding that she was “all in” after seeing the changes.
Barrino commented that while playing the character was “still taxing,” it also helped her work through her struggles.
“I had just started trauma therapy,” Barrino explained. “They go back into your childhood and start to help you heal things you’ve either forgotten or suppressed that are hindering you from adulthood. I had to stop therapy and allow Celie to be my life coach.”
On top of the trauma of the sexual assault, which Barrino revealed in her 2005 memoir, “Life Is Not a Fairytale,” the “American Idol” alum had to undergo surgery to remove two tumors that had developed on her vocal cords following the Broadway show.
A North Carolina native, Barrino rose to fame by winning Season 3 of “American Idol” in 2004.
She won a Grammy in 2011 for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
She is nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for her performance in “The Color Purple.” Winners will be announced next week.
The movie is an adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel “The Color Purple.”
Whoopi Goldberg played Celie in the 1985 version, securing an Oscar nomination.
Barrino, meanwhile, recently made headlines for claiming that she and her family were racially profiled by an Airbnb host.
“My stomach is so uneasy this morning as I’m riding back to my home in the cold and rain,” Barrino wrote in a lengthy X post on Dec. 17. “I don’t say much when people do me wrong, but I can’t stay quiet on how my family and I were just treated from a host with @Airbnb @airbnbhelp trying to kick my kids and I out at 12:00 midnight.”
Airbnb responded to the tweet, saying the company “does not condone discrimination in any way” and that it would launch an investigation.