Watch Taraji P. Henson Sing in ‘The Color Purple’ | Anatomy of a Scene

Shug Avery knows how to make an entrance.

The sultry nightclub singer lights up a room, and a swamp, in this scene from “The Color Purple,” the film musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel. At the beginning of the sequence, a performance of the song “Push Da Button,” Shug (Taraji P. Henson), wearing a shimmering red dress and a feathered headdress, arrives at a juke joint on a barge.

The director Blitz Bazawule, narrating the sequence, said that his production designer, Paul D. Austerberry, suggested shooting it on location, rather than on a soundstage. They found a swamp in Georgia that they drained and refilled, to build the juke joint in which Shug performs.

Bazawule said that it took two weeks of rehearsal to figure out the blocking, with choreography by Fatima Robinson. It was “very important that we gave Taraji an opportunity to shine,” he explained. Henson does all of her own singing in the scene, having taken vocal lessons to prepare for the role.

An idea for a dance break while the lights are shut off came to Bazawule when he was on set early one day, before shooting, and saw the environmental lights on. “The blue light started to bleed through,” he recalled. “I said to myself, ‘I think that’s it. If we can go from light to darkness this way, I think we could have something special.’”

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[freedomchar]

The narrator was like, if you want to hear her sing, go see it in person. I'm not giving you a free preview. 😵‍💫

[UniquelyMej]

She did a great job. I Love this scene. She is a natural actor and singer.

[RhapsodyRob]

This ENTRY was so dope. The boat moving without a paddle in motion. The colors . Amazingly shot

[triniteebryant]

I love her . She was singing amazing . You go aunty ❤

[MamaBebop]

Thanks for the commentary, Taraji is a gem, glad I heard her sing before, because you didn't let us hear her 😂

[hisanipdubose]

Saw it yesterday. She was absolutely amazing!!!! She is a fantastic actress/ singer and should be paid top dollar. In general this was great movie. The music and dancing did not take away from the seriousness of the story. E everyone gave top performances. I was surprised to see David Greer and Jon Baptiste. I could go on and on but to sum it up, GREAT JOB E EVERONE including the behind the scenes

[rkms]

Once again, this black woman ATE her scenes!❤🎉🙌🏿 great job. Thank you for sharing this break down

[Therapisity]

It must've been an incredible feeling to be in that space making something so culturally important.

[inezhunter]

She did her thing, pay my girl what she is worth. So much talent that no one knew she had. Every actor they use was perfectly fit. No one else could have done this. PERIOD!!!!

[Xavier-Denis]

Out of all the movies, The Color Purple is my favorite movie.
Recently I heard one of the actresses say in an interview that black actors and actresses were paid less than white ones and I was outraged to hear that.
They have as many talents as the next person and I wondered what WE could do to express our discontent and support them in the face of this injustice and support them to be paid fairly.

[sisj-g]

Oscar🎉🎉🎉🎉 winning 🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤ performance 🎉🎉🎉. She deserves her paycheck 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉. This isn't a nominee moment. This is an Oscar worthy performance.🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[kenyatacarter]

Wonderful moment! I didn’t think she was was singing, thank you so much for that break down!!

[SandraAlexander-xilb]

Very talented actress and so stunning. She's so gorgeous 👑🖤👑🤎👑🖤🤎👑🤎🖤👑

[janicetuggle]

I knew Taraji could sing, but you narrated through the entire video 😏

[candicejack]

They could have given us a snippet of just her singing to make us want to see The Color Purple Again. I can wait.

[francesslaughter]

That particular storyline meant it was closer to the storyline of Alice Walkers book. If you read the book.👍🏽

[kenyatacarter]

Wow, so many ppl complaining that he was talking, when he’s breaking down the moment which is the basis of the video! If yall wanna see the scene GO ACTUALLY SEE THE MOVIE! This is a breakdown not a watch and enjoy sheesh

[fatdevil]

That's insane! Had no idea Taraji singing sounded like a man doing commentary

[canstruth]

"They better pay my girl Taraji all her money...She worth more than billions ...
Maybe if fans start protesting maybe Hollywood would give our favorite stars what they worth...❤❤❤"

[arlenerogerswilhite]

Love this narration and commentary thank you for the post❤❤❤❤❤❤🎉