When Prince cast Apollonia to fill in Vanity's role in Purple Rain why was it important that she resemble Vanity? I think Apollonia is great..she's very beautiful and all but she was obviously cast because she had an overall similar appearance. She wasn't that great of an actress or singer...couldn't he have just picked a woman despite what her looks were...I mean obviously she had to be beautiful but why couldn't she have been a blond or a woman that looked nothing like Vanity?

Thousands of women came to audition for this role, many who were already fairly well known in Hollywood. One of the things that were crucial to the role was that the replacement HAD to resemble Vanity. One of the reasons had to do with the simple fact that Vanity 6 was very well known in P's fan base. That was Warner's main target audience, P's cult following at that time. That's why there are so many "inside jokes" during the film, only the folks who were into P, The Time, Vanity 6, they would understand it. To get someone else who didn't resemble Vanity would have fucked up the whole vibe that had already been laid. Folks were ALREADY like "Who in the hell is THIS?! Where's Vanity?!"

When you say resemble Vanity do you mean, the act of Vanity (lingerie wearing T&A thing) or facial appearance? Because in my opinion, both have very distinct facial beauty, I don't think they resemble ieach other at all. Furthermore, if you watch the bonus DVD of 20th anniversay release of Purple Rain, the producer mentioned that Apollonia was the only one out of thousands of girls, who showed up wearing baggy sweats, while everyone else auditioned looking and dressing like Vanity. The producer made it seem that it was her charm that won her the role.

P had to keep his "vibe" and everyone knows he has a specific type. I dug Vanity but I loved Apollonia when she came on the scene. I had wall to wall posters and pinups of her back in 84/85. Who cared if she couldn't sing (lol).

She said she was married in the "Purple Rain" days, but I heard she used to go out with David Lee Roth and Robbin Crosby (late guitarist of RATT) in the 80's.

wonder505 said:

Yep, I alluded to that myself.

I think he had a CERTAIN look and Vibe for that TIME and he wanted a DARK SEXY TYPE. They had to match in a sense to look right in this type of flick.

interestingly,one of the women who auditoned for the role was Jennifer Beals,who was "hot" at the time,thanks to her starring role in the 1983 blockbuster film 'Flashdance'.I guess she didn't look enough like Vanity,lol

what do you guys think? Could Jennifer had played the Apollonia role? Would she had been interested in being the lead singer of the girl group (Jennifer 6?) LOL

DavidEye said:

To be honest I don't think I could see her in Apollonia's role. She's not as beautiful or sexy as Apples...I'm happy Patty Kotero got the role..I always thought she was extremley beautiful but I always got the feeling Prince was like "Oh boy she's a sweetheart but WHAT am I going to do with this girl!?"

Krystal666 said:

Blonde? WTF?!?!?!?!
argh. They shoulda revamped Irene Cara's career with Purple Rain. I bet you they ain't even call ol' girl. She wasn't busy. At least she could sing her ass off. Or that raspy voiced sister from Sister Sledge.
that's what up. no blonde, white bread coulda been Prince girls in that flick. Apollonia wasn't street at all to be sure, but she could look the part. as long as she didn't say too much.
Irene Cara all the way on that.

alwayslate said:

alwayslate said:

Irene Cara?




That would have been an interesting choice.One advantage is that she was already well-known,which would have helped 'Purple Rain'.Plus,she can actually sing and act.But I wonder...would she have accepted a role like this? She always had such a wholesome image.It's hard to imagine her up there on stage,wearing lingerie and telling someone to "kiss her gun",lol.

wonder505 said:

I SAW THAT ALSO, BUT I READ SOMEWHERE AND I WILL HAVE TO RESEARCH THIS BUT I READ THAT SHE ALSO SHOWED UP DRESSES AS VANITY.
LIKE IT SAID, I WILL FIND OUT WHERE I FOUND THAT

DavidEye said:

I don't think that Jennifer Beals could have pulled off the role. She is beautiful and sophisticated and on another level. I don't think that the fans would have bought it back in the day .

DavidEye said:

Irene Cara is a great entertainer-very talented, but I think that her image would have clashed with all of the things that Prince and the other minneapolis musicians were doing at the time. Her image was to wholesome and you know what it looks like she did alot better than Apollonia ever did (don't kill me Krystal666) .

DavidEye said:

I think Irene would have been a good choice, but she was too good of an actress to play some one diminsional shallow ass shit that role called for. It was Prince's show, so no upstaging allowed. P got upstaged anyway by Morris and Jerome anyway.

nurse said:

funny, i don't think wholesome when I think Irene Cara. I think urban. And it's clear from her role in "Fame" that she wasn't uncomfortable with some mild nudity (which is all we got with Apples). Really, did Apollonia ever convince anyone that she had any gritty-ness post Purple Rain?
nope.
It was Prince that projected his persona onto her in that film. It was the clothes and the hair that gave her the appearance of a gritty city girl. But when she talked, it was pure valley girl coming out of her mouth.

Prince: "where are you from?"
Apollonia: "Nyeww Orlins"

Irene was a good actress I think she could have pulled this off easy, she woulda been like "I'm from Nawlins."
That scene at the railroad tracks? She woulda made it look like they were scrappin for real out there. She'd-a been like "you can't tell me what to do" like a go-hard nnnnn-nevermind.

She was young, pretty and she had the typical Prince girl stats: nice body, big 80s eyebrows, too much make-up, big hair, she had it all. plus she was already an oscar winning singer/songwriter in her own right. heck with the movie, they shoulda hooked up in real life.
oh well, can't do nuthin bout it now but dream. *sigh*

alwayslate said:

Nice point! I can agree that she is an excellent actress .

alwayslate said:

Ok I suppose I see your point...wasn't Vanity's charecter Nikki suppose to be kinda tough, and bitchy? Hmmm...I still like Apollonia though I thought she was really sexy and I don't see anything wrong with being really nice as she is.

I mean REALLY!!!!! Can u imagine Irene Cara lettin' Prince feel her up in a basement, or jumping in Lake Minnetonka????? WHAT A FEELING!!!!! LOL!!!

Damn, is that a recent pic of Jennifer Beals?? (droooool) Irene Cara as Apollonia? Might have worked. I could have dug Irene Cara wearing some Victoria's rockin' out "Sex Shooter". But Prince was better off picking a unknown leading lady.

alwayslate said:

And there it is. At the time of casting the movie, Prince was not an oscar winning songwriter yet. This was HIS show. Do you think he would have had Irene Cara, already an oscar winner, already proven herself on Fame, costar with Prince in his first movie role, writing his first soundtrack???
This was HIS record label putting up the money to push HIS star, not Cara.

alwayslate said:

I now think that Irene would have been a good choice!

Why did Tommy Barbarella need to look like Lisa Coleman?

I think it was because she was taking over Vanity 6 and it was too close to the production of Purple Rain. Seriously, would u have been interested in the group if Vanity (who is long legged, a brunette, exotic looking) was replaced by a short red-head??

Pizzat said:

Pizzat said:

Pizzat said:

I saw Barbarella in person once..he's pretty hot actually.

Krystal666 said:

He IS hot. When he's not looking like Lisa...but Lisa's hot herself!

Terilicious said:

When he first joined NPG with is blue/black hair I really thought he looked too goth and not all that hot. But when his hair was kinda auburn? I don't know..he just was really good looking.

Never saw Lisa in person...but I always thought she was very pretty...and had a cool demener.