Bet You Didn’t Know: Secrets Behind The Making Of “Purple Rain”

If you want to talk about a “terrible” movie that got the most love ever, you have to be talking about Purple Rain. With only three professional actors in the entire film, this movie became a cult classic because of the big name artists associated with it, the extraordinary music featured in it and the fact that it gave us a glimpse into the ultimate mystery man’s “life.” You’ve rocked out to all the songs, you might have even memorized a poorly delivered line or two, but we bet you don’t know these behind the scenes secrets. Check them out.

Get freaky in the Purple Rain

Not that we necessarily needed this; but apparently, there was a second love scene that was later cut from the production. The scene, which actually included rain that was tinged with purple, was said to be so graphic it almost earned the film an X-rating. Us common folk will probably never see the entire thing; but if you watch the trailer for the movie and the “When Doves Cry” video, you can see a hot second of it at the very beginning. Since we know ya’ll lean toward the narsty, we’ve included it below.

Dreams?

William Blinn, the screenwriter, initially wanted to call the film “Dreams.” While it would have been befitting, it’s also kind of cliché. Prince wasn’t having it. Not only did he take issue with the original script, he also wanted to make sure that the word “purple” was included in the title of the movie. Good choice.

Where did the name come from?

In a rare, late night jam session, Prince allowed his band members to help him collaborate on a song for the first time. The end result would  eventually become the song we now know as “Purple Rain.” According to band mate Lisa Coleman, the song symbolizes “a new beginning. Purple, the sky at dawn; rain, the cleansing factor.”

Source

Who’s going to be the lead?

The decision of who to cast opposite Prince was a major one and actually took some time. Initially, Vanity, the leader of the group Vanity 6 and Prince’s then girlfriend was supposed to play the lead. But she left the group and later devoted herself to God—needless to say this role wouldn’t have fit with her new born-again lifestyle. Then Jennifer Beals was considered for the project but she turned it down in order to focus on college. Ultimately the role ended up going to a relatively unknown Mexican singer, actress and model, Apollonia Kotero.

The Father

Originally, Prince’s on-screen father was supposed to die from a self-inflicted gun shot wound to the head but later producers decided to let the character live. This is quite interesting considering the film is supposedly, as Prince put it, “an emotional autobiography.” Well, that’s pretty indicative about the relationship he must have shared with his real life dad. Once in an interview Prince said that his father, who was also a musician, wouldn’t allow him to play his piano because he claimed Prince wasn’t as good as him. In 1984, the same year Purple Rain was released, Prince curtly told People Magazine about one of his father’s flaws, “He found it hard to show emotion. I find that true of most men.” At the time of the interview, Prince described he and his sisters as “mistakes.” Whether that was in the eyes of his parents, or how he felt about he and his sister was unclear.

Opening Up

If you’ve followed Prince’s career for a while, you know that he is terribly shy and doesn’t communicate extensively with his coworkers, more less people in the media. Which is why the release of this semi-autobiographical movie came as such a surprise to the public as well as people who knew Prince through work:

“For the first two years that I worked with him, Prince never talked to any of us. Once he started talking about his life with his parents. He mentioned something about having a tough time. Then he suddenly realized what he was doing and clammed up. That was two and a half years ago. We never heard about his personal life again.”

What do Jim Brown and Richard Pryor have to do with it?

Well actually, nothing. The movie was shopped around to a few production companies including Jim Brown’s and Richard Pryor’s “Indigo Productions.” Jim Brown saw Prince’s talent and believed in the movie. But Richard wasn’t familiar and the two ended up passing on the project. Shortly after, Jim Brown left the company, people were fired and the company fizzled out.  Naturally after he saw how successful the film was, Brown, in the Spike Lee documentary Jim Brown: All American, expressed how disappointed he was that they passed on the movie. Get the back story in the video below.

And they love it…

Though you’d be hard pressed to find someone who considers Purple Rain to be a great film, acting and plot wise, there are people who swear by it, simply because the songs, many of which were performed live, is just so awesome. The movie, which cost $7 million to make, would go on to earn over $80 million dollars at the box office and won an Academy Award for best original song score. The soundtrack sold 10 million copies in America and 20 million worldwide.