Interesting Article about young Celie for "Color Purple" fans (kinda long)

Have you ever wondered whatever happened to Young Celie from 1985's "The Color Purple"?  She is Desreta Jackson, which is a name you might not know, however, her performance when she was only 13 years-old goes down in cinematic history.  Jackson played the younger version of Adult Celie, a role which earned Whoopi Goldberg her first Oscar nomination.  

"The Color Purple" was a movie based on Alice Walker's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and directed by Steven Spielberg.  The movie told the story of Celie who suffered intense mental, sexual and physical abuse.  Her story of rising above racism and sexism has inspired millions and the film is considered by many critics one of the greatest movies of all time. 

"The Color Purple" was a role that would forever change Jackson's trajectory and give her some of the greatest experiences of her life.  She reflects, "It was such a loving cast, it really was.  It was very family oriented."  The cast was a who's who of A-listers like Danny Glover, Quincy Jones and, the legendary, Oprah Winfrey.  

However, all was not bountiful in the life of Desreta Jackson post "The Color Purple."  She has a riveting story of tribulation, lessons and triumph.  After declining interviews for over 15 years, Desreta, who now lives in Los Angeles, spoke exclusively to BET.com about filming "The Color Purple" and the affect the movie had on her life.  In this deeply emotional interview, she opens up about Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Hollywood and surviving sexual abuse.  

How did you get the role of Young Celie in "The Color Purple"?
My mother and I had come out here from the West Indies.  I went to an acting class and I was probably three months in acting school at that time.  They had this big casting call for "The Color Purple," my drama teacher submitted my pictures and they asked me to come in.  I went to Morning Side High School in Los Angeles, where they had the auditions.  I was probably the hundredth person in line.  Ruben Cannon, he was about two feet away, he came to me—it was almost like a movie.  He said, "You.  Could you stand back up?  Turn around and walk over here."  I did that and he asked me to read the first page of Alice Walker's book. He asked if I could come back to meet some producers.  I met the producers and Spielberg.  Remember, I was coming here from the West Indies.  We were homeless, literally, six months ago on skid row.  I had no clue of the entertainment world, what an audition was, it was my first audition.  I remember meeting Spielberg; he put the camera up and just kind of went with me.  I remember the day leaving Spielberg and by the time we got home, we had a dozen phone calls from agents.  That's it.

How did you handle being 13 and you're in a role where you're being called ugly?
That was really interesting... at the time, it never affected me.  When I would play the character, I heard it a lot.  It's crazy, I heard a lot of things during the filming of "The Color Purple" that I heard my whole life growing up.  I was straight from the West Indies.  I was always told, "She's pretty to be a black girl."  Doing the role, I heard it so much that it just helped with the character.  So much stuff made sense to me; it was really natural to go into insecurities.  I was just being part of it.  Now after the film was over—that was interesting.  It affected me more than it did doing the movie.

Did those comments stay with you?
Yes, the comments did.  I remember moving on and going to other auditions in Hollywood -- that was my introduction that there was a difference in my complexion, my color.  Maybe I went up for a role and I wanted to be the lead, the casting director would say, "Well, you're not the right color."  It went over my head, I didn't get it.  I actually thought I was cute! [Laughs] I just didn't get it.  They said, "You're just not the right shade, you don't have the right look for it." I might persist and say, "What do you want?  What are you looking for?"  They'd say, "Well, let's put it this way.  We need someone a little but more mulatto.  A little bit more pretty."  That's how they put it.  It was very interesting.

One of the most graphic scenes is when Nettie and Celie were pulled away by Mister.  What was going through your mind in that scene?
Whatever I was doing—that was it.  I had a close relationship with Akosua Busia [Nettie Harris] off the set too.  When we got to do that scene, there was a relationship there.  She was really close to me on the set.  Actually, there were three people who were really tight with me on the set.  Akosua, Oprah and Quincy Jones took to me as far as keeping me from a lot of drama.  There was a little drama, supposedly, somebody not liking me.  They kind of took this little protective role.

Who didn't like you?
Well, that's all hearsay to me; I don't even know to this day, but it was always this drama that Whoopi never liked me.  I never knew, but I just remember Akosua, Oprah and Quincy Jones were very close with me.  I remember having such a stronger bond with them.  So when Akousa and I did that scene, I was totally emerged.  I had a bond with her.  There was definitely something there and it just fed into the scene more.

When you were dragged down the stairs—was that choreography or just being immersed in the scene?
That was choreographed.  Spielberg was very detailed.  We did go down the stairs, they choreographed it and it hurt.  I was padded, but it hurt like hell! [Laughs] Even when Danny slapped me—he really slapped me.  I didn't know he was going to really slap me.  I was still thinking, "Okay, we're acting so when this scene comes up, he's not going to really hit me."  No, he hit me!  I was shocked.  I didn't break character, I started crying.  I kind of looked and in my head I was thinking, "He hit me!" [Laughs] We're on camera and he hit me!

Wow.  If you don't want to answer this you don't have to, but do you know to what capacity or why Whoopi Goldberg didn't like you?

She never personally did anything for me to pick it up.  This was something that I was just told—hearsay at the time by other people around me.  The only thing that it probably was… I remember they said she was cast for "The Color Purple"—that was her film, I guess.  Later on, Spielberg decided to cast a younger version.  I don't know what the reason was because of that.  After awhile I assumed maybe it could've been anybody cast, it wasn't a personal issue.  And, that's still hearsay! [Laughs] I would love to speak, say hi to her and talk to her.

You mentioned you were close to Oprah.  What was your relationship like with her?
She was very protective.  If I had to use just one word, it would be protective.  She is a very protective person when she loves somebody, I think.  That's what I felt.  She wasn't motherly, nor was she sisterly.  Where she went, she invited me and I would go.  She just kept me in close company.  A lot of the charity work I do today, I've never said this to anyone, I believe has to do with being younger and my first time doing charity work with Oprah.  After "The Color Purple" she would call my mom and ask if it was okay if I would fly down and speak at this event or she's having a girl's club situation.  I'd fly to Chicago and I'd do a lot of charity work.  I just felt protected with her.

When was the last time you spoke with her?
I can't even tell you. When I left Hollywood that was probably the last time I communicated with anyone. I would say it was definitely on my end then because of them.

The whole cast was interviewed for the DVD except for you.  Why weren't you on the DVD—did you decline?
No, I didn't even know about it.  I didn't decline or anything.  Matter of fact, it's real crazy because it never dawned on me probably until about two years ago… I never went to the Oscars either when the movie was nominated.

Is there a reason why?
No, I wasn't invited.  There's always a reason to everything and I'm pretty sure there is probably a small error or something going on.

Wow, I've always said your performance set-up Adult Celie.  The reason why people felt Whoopi, which was an amazing performance also, is because of what you did as Young Celie.  Do you feel like you've gotten the respect you deserve for what you did for that movie?
I never really thought about it in that sense. I wasn't aiming for any attention.  So by not aiming or looking for anything, I didn't miss anything.  I never thought twice about it, but I am very flattered when I hear people tell me that.  It feels good, it's inspiring.  

After "The Color Purple" you had a couple of small roles but then you seemed to disappear from acting.  Why wasn't there much else after that?
Well... right after "The Color Purple," I actually was raped.  I later determined it was by a fan.  Being young and going through that, there were some mental issues where I really had to adjust myself.  I was a little taken aback with the whole Hollywood thing. I stopped going to the auditions.  I stopped pursuing it.  I just wanted to be more reserved.  On top of that, I just didn't want the attention.  It was really a big ordeal, those from "The Color Purple" knew about it because they threw me a baby shower. They were supportive.  They knew the situation, what happened.  Personally, I was going through a lot.

When you say a baby shower, you mean the father of the child was the attacker?
Yes.  When the incident happened, I withdrew and never told anyone about it.  I kept it in; it took six or seven months before I kind of released it.  What's interesting, we now know what is date rape.  Back in that time, they didn't really have in that sense.  So much has changed, even how they deal with celebrities and different things that happen to them now.  They take things so much more serious.  Back then there wasn't a clear definition.  As a little girl, I questioned a lot—I should've did this, why did I do that, why was I home alone, what was going on.  I just withdrew.  I'm actually glad I did do that, I took the time.  I developed as an adult, as a person and I worked on me.  I came to a point where I didn't have a problem speaking about it or expressing it—nor do I blame myself.

Wow, telling this story will help so many people.  What's interesting, and some of our readers might think this, is that Celie was a rape victim and abused, you were also.  How do those two connect?
It did at one point.  I wondered—that was weird.  The film was already out when that happened so maybe that was part of the inspiration [from the attacker], I don't know.  But, it was interesting... I moved on from that.  The things I do now and what I'm about now have a lot to do with what happened in those developmental ages.
 
Where are you now in your life?
I just recently executive produced a reality web episode and really enjoyed it.  I also signed with a management team that pursued me for a little while as to coming into the industry.  I never thought about it, but where I'm at now in my life, I've developed as a person.  I love acting.  I have two kids, instead of reading them a book to sleep at night, we'll act out scenes.  At this point in time, I have been reading a couple of scripts.  I don't know, I'm taking it slowly, I'm going to see.  I have a couple agents that contacted me but I'm looking to sign with a really good agency.  Maybe you'll see me in the future.

Tell me about Mahogany Mane.
Mahogany Mane is my company.  I work with rape crisis and battered women centers.  What I do is I get the women who need to relocate or get a second chance.  I would rent out a house to them. They don't have the right credit anymore; they don't have the financial stability.  I would work with the organization and we would set the women up with a new home.  That's how Mahogany Mane really came about. Everyone calls me Mahogany, they don't call me Desreta. 

This film is an American classic.  When you think back that you were in "The Color Purple" what comes to mind?
I think of how many great, great actors and actresses developed from that film.  Even to this day, it was a wonderful experience.  I really feel blessed. Now, when I'm looking at some scripts, I have a little more scrutiny I guess I'm more of an old school actress.  I just really feel like it was a blessing, it was just wonderful.  I'll tell you the best moment, I remember my son was in junior high. He came home and said, "Mom, did you know you're in the history books?" [Laughs] Now that's a feeling!