Whoopi Goldberg reflected on her lengthy acting career, which has included iconic roles in the likes of Ghost and Sister Act
Whoopi has reflected on her illustrious career in the movie industry(Image: Baby, This is Keke Palmer/Youtube)
Whoopi Goldberg nearly missed out on two of her biggest acting roles to date. The legendary actress, who is one of the rare stars to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award, has reflected on her lengthy and incredible career, which has seen her star in the likes of Sister Act and Ghost.
Whoopi, 70, who also works on US daytime talk show The View, admits she nearly missed out on some of her most important roles. Speaking on Keke Palmer’s podcast, Whoopi said originally she was stunned to not be considered for 1990 romantic fantasy Ghost, after finding out “every Black woman and their mama” was auditioning for the role.
When she asked why she hadn’t been called to see casting directors, she was told that her team had “suggested you and they didn’t want you, because they felt people would take you out of the movie”.
Whoopi went on to star in the movie alongside Demi Moore and the late Patrick Swayze, who championed her for the role. She ended up winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her part as Oda Mae Brown.
Her iconic role in Sister Act wasn’t meant to be hers either, with the actress revealing that the part was actually penned for Bette Midler, who had previous said she turned it down because “my fans don’t want to see me in a wimple”.
In a role that only cemented her incredible acting career, Whoopi explained that she wanted to go for the roles that were rejected by others, a move which was no doubt great for her career.
“Apparently I’m Black. I guess I didn’t realise it, so every time I went looking for something, they went, ‘No, no, no, this isn’t for you,'” she said, before revealing she urged her team to put her up for “all the stuff that people have turned down”.
She added: “I got Burglar that way, because that was Bruce Willis’ movie. Jumpin’ Jack Flash was Shelley Long’s movie. There’s several, a whole bunch of movies. I felt like people really wanted to make those movies, and then the person they wanted said no.”
Signing up for those shows doesn’t come without risk, according to Whoopi.
“Listen, they didn’t always work on the box office, but when they got on television, people lost their minds,” she said, “People didn’t always have money to go see the movie, but they could se it on TV. A lot of my movies have become these kind of classics.”
Talk also turned to her hosting role on The View. Asked why she did it, she quipped the best part was the money.
“I love the check,” she quipped, “You would be shocked [by how much it is]. Listen, you would be shocked… As soon as they’d show you that check, you’d be like, ‘What the…?'” It has been reported Whoopi is paid a whopping $6 and $8 million per year.
Like this s tory? F or more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok , Snapchat , Instagram , Twitter , Facebook , YouTube and Threads .
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: mirror.co.uk
