There is no doubt that Prince’s Oscar-winning single Purple Rain is one for the record books, but there is also no denying that the movie by the same name helped to get it there. Yet, imagine someone else besides your royal badness playing the role of The Kid in the cult classic? It did almost happen. When one Twitter user expressed being in a mood for some random Black industry facts and asked, “What y’all got for me?” Journalist and author Michael Harriot replied with a jaw-dropping answer.

Thanks to the question, many fans were beyond surprised to learn this information. But a week after Prince’s untimely death in 2016, Albert Magnoli, director of Purple Rain, shared the story of Prince’s cinematic breakthrough with Rolling Stone Magazine.

“This black singer had an idea for a movie called Dreams, but the singer’s own label wanted a white actor to play the lead. The singer refused. So, they gave the singer a tiny Black film budget, gave him the role (instead of John Travolta) and changed the title to [what we now know as] Purple Rain.”

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Prince Faced Obstacles and Hurdles to Get His Dream to Come True

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Magnoli revealed how Prince and his management team initially footed $500,000 to fund the film. By the time it made its way to Warner Bros., their first request was to cast John Travolta. Magnolia recalled:

Even Apollonia teased:

“I said to the Warner guys, ‘Guys, this is not going to happen. This is unacceptable. What we have going for us is authenticity.’ They were shocked.”

Rejected by countless directors, Warner Bros. was also against the film’s content. Magnoli continued:

“I love John, but I don’t think, in high heels and Jheri curl and purple velvet, I don’t think that would’ve worked.”

They continued to nitpick the 1984 film, which in the end earned over $70 million in box office sales, and boosted Prince’s career, whose soundtrack garnered two Oscar wins. During its opening week, Prince became the first artist to simultaneously have a No. 1 album, single and film in the country. There were varying reports that Richard Pryor wanted to produce Purple Rain. The world may never know what the powers that be had in mind for John Travolta in the Dream project, but as for Purple Rain…that’s a wrap.

“The development people came to me and said, ‘The script is sexist and misogynistic and violent and erotic, and it puts down women. They’re looking at a PG-13 concept. I’m saying, ‘No, it’s an R. It’s a brutal story with a lot of darkness in it.’”