On the red carpet before the event, Brooks was also feeling the spirit. While wearing a literal halo (a thin floating gold crown fastened to a glamorously sleek low bun), Brooks credited her faith for not giving up during her long career before this moment of adulation. “If God is whispering something in your ear for your journey… don’t ever rush the fulfilment of that promise. It will come,” Brooks told Unbothered on the carpet. “It might not come in your time but it will be. So be patient and wait and trust the process and work while you’re in the process and hold your head up like Celie say,” Brooks ended with a smile. Brooks’ relationship with The Color Purple is a shining example of patience and trusting the process. She first played Sofia in the Broadway revival of Alice Walker’s seminal text in 2015. Even though she won a Tony for that role, Brooks had to audition for six months to play Sofia in the movie musical. And now, after years of grinding and giving (from Orange Is The New Black to Instant Dream Home, Brooks has done it all in Hollywood), Brooks is finally in her receiving flowers era. But she’s quick to clarify that while awards are nice, they aren’t necessary.
