She waged a controversial personal campaign for an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress in
The Color Purple (1985), highlighted by her taking out an ad in an industry trade magazine. A born-again Christian, she wrote the ad in the vernacular of her character, "Shug", and made her plea directly to God. Many Academy members, reputedly including the film's director
Steven Spielberg, were put off by this approach and by her using her professed faith to campaign for an award. She was nominated but lost to
Anjelica Huston.