Most of us The Color Purple fans remember actress, Desreta Jackson, who played the ‘young Celie’ in the 1985 classic, which starred some of the biggest African American stars in the game. Desreta was only around 14 years old at that time and what we didn’t know was how much her co-star Oprah Winfrey (“Miss Sophia”) did for her behind the scenes.
During a recent interview with California Soul TV, Desreta was asked to share some of her favorite memories about being on set of the Color Purple. While she admitted that she had “several of them,” it was the memories and experiences she shared with Oprah Winfrey on and off the set that set her life and personal development on the right track.
‘Oprah Was Very Protective Of Me’
On The Color Purple set, Desreta was oftentimes the only child. So she says Oprah became “very protective” of her and also like a “mother figure” to her. Oprah would have Desreta tag along around the set, so she could witness and learn, as Oprah did day to day business as well.
“We shot [Color Purple] in North Carolina and literally…there [were] no kids around, just the adults. Oprah became like this mother figure. She would just kinda be like, ‘Come here, follow me around,’ and she would be very protective of me,” said Desreta.
She said Oprah would always make sure to shelter her from certain people on set and to shield her from ‘certain things being said’ to her, or in front of her, that children should not be told, nor hear.
“She was really that kind of person, and I would sometimes take part in like, the same room while she’s doing business.”
But Oprah Later Went Above And Beyond For Desreta AFTER The Movie
What Oprah did for Desreta Jackson once filming was wrapped…
“She Didn’t Stop”
“When I finished The Color Purple, and I went back home, she didn’t stop. …She would fly me out [to Chicago, where she was filming her talk show] and I would stay with her. … I’d stay in the bed with her. I’d just kinda lay down while she takes care of business and work and talk.”
‘I Do Th Same With My Kids Now’
DJ: “That was really influential to me as a child, kind of in my developmental years, because…to this day…I do that with my kids. Like, I make them come with me when I go to business [meetings], I make them sit around when I’m talking…because I realized how much it (Oprah’s help) helped made me see a frame of thinking. It made me realize more about business, without subconsciously knowing it. And I don’t know if Oprah did that purposely…whether it was conscious, or not conscious, but it definitely framed and helped part of my development mentally.”
But WAIT…There’s More…See What Oprah Did That Made Desreta Flip Out
Deresta Flipped Out When Oprah Bought Her An Expensive Nightgown
DJ: “I love that she (Oprah) bought my first nightgown. When I flew out to her, she would take me shopping. … I remember the first nightgown she bought me was like $300 dollars, LOL…and ya, know- talking about a lil’ girl from the hood, I was like ‘You know how much I could buy with that?!!'”
What the former Color Purple Star Does Now
After The Color Purple hype wore down, Desreta says she quickly learned about the brainwashed, jacked up views that often exist in Hollywood when it comes to casting talent. Desreta admitted, in a prior interview with Onyx Truth, that she fell into the constant ridicules that plague many actresses – you’re too Black, you’re too fat, your nose is too wide, your curves are too round. After growing tired of the Hollywood scene, she decided to step away from the acting game and do other things that she loved.
She went to school and rekindled her business, that she’d been in professionally since the age of nine, which was the hair braiding business. She also had two children along the way, and when we fast forward today, she’s now the CEO of her own successful hair products brand, Black Silk Products. Innovate Health & Technology Breakthroughs has also acknowledged Desreta for her many contributions to the improvement in the health of African American hair & she’s also been dubbed the new ‘Madame C.J. Walker of the millennium.’
