Prince ‘Smelled Like Purple,’ Leading Lady Apollonia Kotero Recalled

Performer Apollonia Kotero recently recalled how musician/filmmaker Prince was so magical, that he even smelled like the color purple.

“He smelled great. He smelled like purple. If that makes any sense. He was as cute as a button, really cute. Beautiful eyes and extremely shy, super shy. I could just tell he was,” she recalled during a podcast appearance.

Prince was ‘terrified’ to meet Apollonia

Kotero auditioned and ultimately landed the role of Apollonia in Prince’s seminal film Purple Rain. Loosely based on his own life, Prince played the role of “The Kid,” an aspiring musician who hoped to avoid the same mistakes his father had made. He falls for Apollonia, who was another singer at a local club.

Casting Prince’s leading lady in Purple Rain was important to Prince. “It was almost like he was terrified of just meeting me,” Kotero said on the Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast. “Not that I had a reason given to be scared, but I think there was so much commotion going on behind the scenes that he really needed to find his leading lady. I think he was just nervous; you know, but again, he was very shy,” she recalled.

Did Jennifer Beals almost play the Applonia role in ‘Purple Rain’?

Kotero squashed the rumor that her role in Purple Rain almost went to actor Jennifer Beals. “The Jennifer Beals story is just a fabrication of Hollywood,” she shared. “She was never offered the role, it’s just that Hollywood mystique stories. Gina Gershon also wanted to play the role and I knew about Vanity because I was a big fan of hers and I collected the Rolling Stone with Prince and Vanity on the cover, so I had a bit of knowledge of their history.”

She also said the audition process was lengthy. “There were multiple rounds. Everything took place within seven days. I auditioned here in Hollywood. The funny thing is that the casting office where I auditioned isn’t too far from where I live today and I drive by or walk by, and I look, and it’s just, you know, nostalgic, so I auditioned, and within seven days, they had me fly to Minnesota to meet with Prince and I knew that that was like the audition. He took me out dancing, and we went to First Avenue and that evening, Vanity was there, so it was like a movie within a movie.”     

Apollonia Kotero knew Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’ was special

“I was excited,” Kotero recalled when she landed the role. Then added, “I remember calling everyone that I knew, like all four people from my apartment in West Hollywood, which was unfurnished at the time. I couldn’t afford furniture, but I was cool with it because I was in Hollywood already.”

Kotero recalled knowing how this role would change her life. “Because I knew the potential of what this movie had available,” she said. “I knew that Prince was becoming a star and I had this initial feeling it was just you know my gut that I knew that something major was gonna happen with this. I couldn’t explain it, I mean I was just 23-24.”