Jon Batiste to make feature acting debut in The Color Purple

Jon Batiste will make his feature acting debut in 'The Color Purple'.

The 35-year-old singer has landed a role in the adaptation of the award-winning Broadway musical, which was previously seen on the big screen in Steven Spielberg's 1985 movie.

The plot centres on a woman called Celie Harris and follows her lifelong struggles as an African American woman living in the South in the early 1900s.

Jon will portray Grady, the husband of Shug Avery (Taraji P. Henson) and a sweet-talking piano man.

The Grammy-winning star joins a cast that includes Henson, Fantasia Barrino, Colman Domingo, Corey Hawkins, Danielle Brooks and H.E.R.

Blitz Bazawule, the filmmaker behind Beyonce's 'Black Is King', will direct the fresh take on the musical. Marcus Gardley has penned the screenplay that has been adapted from Marsha Norman's book.

The flick is in preproduction with the cast being put together and chemistry reads happening at the moment.

Oprah Winfrey – who made her own feature debut in Spielberg's take on 'The Color Purple' and earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress – is producing via her Harpo Films banner with the iconic director's Amblin Entertainment company.

The flick is slated for release in December 2023 with Scott Sanders and Quincy Jones, both of whom were involved in the Broadway musical, producing.

Meanwhile, Jon claimed that music is a "spiritual practice" when he was honoured at the Grammy Awards earlier this month.

The star, who collected the coveted Album of the Year prize at the ceremony for his record 'We Are', said: "I really believe this to my core. There is no best musician, best artist, best dancer, best actor. The creative arts are subjective and reach people at a point in their lives when they need it the most. It's like a song or an album is made and has a radar to find a person when they need it the most."