Turn your television set or your TiVo box this Sunday evening to ABC. Oprah Winfrey presents the entertaining, deeply moving and erotic love story originally written in 1937 by Zora Neale Hurston called Their Eyes Were Watching God. Halle Berry and Michael Ealy star in the made-for-tv movie directed by Darnell Martin about a woman's quest for love.

Zora Neale Hurston's timeless, lyrical and passionate story has inspired readers for decades. It has inspired Oprah Winfrey for as long as she has been reading. "Other than (Alice Walker's)
The Color Purple, I've never loved a book as much," Oprah said.

"I never chose it as an Oprah's Book Club selection," Winfrey explained, "because it had always been my dream to do it as a movie, and I never wanted the conflict of having chosen it as a book, and having any kind of discussion about why I really chose it."

Halle Berry plays Zora's Janie Crawford, a beautiful, passionate, resilient woman looking for love and spiritual fulfillment.

This beautiful story follows the fortunes and three marriages of Crawford, a Southern black woman living in the 1920s in the town of Eaton, Florida.

Oprah Winfrey calls it her favorite love story of all time.

It is a celebration of African-American culture and heritage.

Oprah Winfrey and Kate Forte executive produced the production.

Quincy Jones and David Salzman served as co-executive producer.

Matthew Carlisle produced the movie.

Suzan-Lori Parks, Misan Sagay and Bobby Smith Jr. adpated Zora Neale Hurston's novel.

Darnell Martin directed:

Halle Berry as Janie Crawford
Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Joe Starks, Crawford's 2nd husband
Michael Ealy as Tea Cake, the love of Crawford's life
Terrence Howard as Amos Hicks
Lorraine Toussaint as Pearl Stone
Nicki Micheaux as Pheoby Watson
80 year-old, Ruby Dee as Nanny, Crawford's grandmother

Fifteen years ago, Oprah introduced the work to Halle Berry. After Berry won an Oscar, Winfrey approached Halle. Oprah said, "The minute I met Halle, I knew she was right for this role."

Winfrey was interested in executive producing this work is because she is all for the empowerment of women.

"It is about a woman coming of age and discovering her own identity," Oprah said.

In her role as Janie Crawford, Halle says, "I was a proper, married woman who was still waiting for love to begin."

One of the scenes not to miss is a kiss between Crawford and her third husband, Tea Cake -- played by Michael Ealy. Director Darnell Martin and Executive Producer, Kate Forte and Halle said, "We are going to reinvent kissing when you see this scene." Halle said, "We practiced all day on this kiss."

"You've got to watch Sunday night for the big kiss," Oprah said on The Oprah Winfrey Show last week.

Gayle King, Oprah's best friend and the editor-at-large of O Magazine said, "After I saw that scene, I needed a shower."

About Zora Neale Hurston

At the height of the Harlem Renaissance during the 1930s, Zora Neale Hurston was a preeminent black woman writer in the United States.

She was a sometime-collaborator with Langston Hughes and a fierce rival of Richard Wright.

Her stories appeared in major magazines.

Their Eyes Were Watching God was originally published in 1937.

She consulted on Hollywood screenplays, and she wrote four novels, an autobiography, countless essays, and two books on black mythology.

Yet by the late 1950s, Hurston was living in obscurity, working as a maid in a Florida hotel.

She died in 1960 in a Welfare home, was buried in an unmarked grave, and quickly faded from literary consciousness until 1972.

Alice Walker almost single-handedly revived interest in her work when she wrote an essay for Ms. magazine called "In Search of Zora Neale Hurston."

Long out of print, the book was reissued after a petition was circulated at the Modern Language Association Convention in 1975.

Nearly three decades later, Their Eyes Were Watching God has become a seminal novel of American fiction and a classic of the Harlem Renaissance. It is arguably Hurston's best-known and perhaps most controversial piece of work.

For fifteen years, Oprah Winfrey has wanted to bring Hurston's characters to life. It is as much a dream come true for Oprah to have Halle Berry play the role of Janie Crawford, as it is for Halle to have the opportunity to fulfill Oprah's dream.

About Halle Berry

Born in Cleveland, Ohio, Academy Award-winning actress Halle Berry continues to break down barriers, working hard to achieve a career most actors dream of having. This spring, Halle serves as executive producer for the HBO telefilm Lackawanna Blues and voices the Cappy character in the Fox animated feature Robots with Robin Williams and Ewan McGregor. Last summer, she starred in Warner Bros.' Catwoman.

Previously, Halle starred in the psychological thriller Gothika and confirmed her status as a box office draw. In the summer of 2003, she reprised her role as Storm in X2, the sequel to the action hit XMen, which has grossed more than $200 million to date. In 2002, Halle starred as Jinx in the latest James Bond feature Die Another Day, with Pierce Brosnan. The twentieth installment of the 40-year-old franchise was the highest grossing Bond film ever.

For her spectacular performance in Lions Gate Films' Monster's Ball, Halle won an Oscar, a SAG Award and the Berlin Silver Bear Award, and was named Best Actress by the National Board of Review. For the HBO telefilm Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, which she starred in and produced, she earned an Emmy, a Golden Globe, a SAG award and an NAACP Image Award.

Critics and filmgoers took notice of Halle in her feature film debut, Spike Lee's Jungle Fever. She went on to star opposite Warren Beatty in the socio-political comedy Bulworth. Other film credits include Losing Isaiah opposite Jessica Lange, Executive Decision for which she won a Blockbuster Award for Best Actress in an Action Drama, the live-action version of The Flintstones, The Last Boy Scout, Strictly Business, Reginald Hudlin's Boomerang opposite Eddie Murphy, and Swordfish with John Travolta and Hugh Jackman.

On television Halle starred in the highly rated ABC miniseries Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding, which was directed by Charles Burnett. Additional television credits include the title role in Alex Haley's miniseries Queen, which was the highest rated sequel in television history. Her performance garnered her first NAACP Image Award and a Best Newcomer Award from the Hollywood Women's Press Club. She also starred opposite Jimmy Smits in Showtime's original telefilm Solomon and Sheba.

In recognition of her acting achievement, the Harvard Foundation at Harvard University recently honored Halle as Cultural Artist of the Year. She currently serves as an international spokesperson for Revlon cosmetics.

Their Eyes Were Watching God airs on ABC, Sunday, March 6th at 9 p.m., Eastern and Pacific times; 8 p.m., Central time.

Oprah Winfrey said:

More than anything, I hope it introduces the book to high-school kids and reading moms and a public that probably never would have heard of Zora Neale Hurston.

I'm still astounded when I bring up her name and people who are supposed to know something about books don't know her.

At best, I hope it gets her name to a public that deserves to know about her.

Inspire & Be Inspired.

Here's to healthy, adventuresome, soulful, "bringing great stories to life" living!

~ Jennifer Carolyn King , Rugged Elegant Living publisher

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