Whoopi Goldberg had to resist typecasting as an up-and-coming actor in the 1980s and ‘90s.
In her recent memoir, Bits and Pieces: My Mother, My Brother and Me, Goldberg said parts for Black actors were scarce after her 1985 Oscar-nominated breakout role in The Color Purple. She said even though many of her now-acclaimed roles weren’t written for a Black actor, she believed she could play any role and auditioned anyway.
“Most of the movie roles I played in the ‘80s and ‘90s were intended for other people,” Goldberg writes.
Her leading role in Burglar in 1987 was supposed to go to Bruce Willis, according to Goldberg. While she was being considered for a supporting role, she writes that Willis turned the lead down, and Goldberg said, “How about me?”
Goldberg writes that Jumpin’ Jack Flash was originally written for Shelley Long, Fatal Beauty was meant for Cher and her role in Sister Act was first offered to Bette Midler. Midler revealed to Variety that she was afraid to wear a Nun’s habit but praised Goldberg “who wore it all the way to the bank.”
“So God bless her. And she was perfect for it,” Midler said of Goldberg.
In 1987, Goldberg’s classic portrayal of Guinan came after she called Gene Roddenberry to ask for a part in Star Trek: The Next Generation, sparking a revelation for the late Star Trek creator. He decided to build a character just for her, according to Goldberg.
Goldberg writes that when he asked why, she told him, “you couldn’t find Black people in science fiction of the past before Star Trek,” and said it was important to her that Black people “be seen in the future.”
Goldberg recalled in the memoir when her 10-year-old self jumped off the couch in 1966 after Nichelle Nichols appeared as Lieutenant Uhura in Star Trek.
Two days later, Roddenberry offered Goldberg the Star Trek role. He said, “‘It turns out, you’re right. I couldn’t find Black people in science fiction. I had no idea.”
Bits and Pieces by Whoopi Goldberg is available now, wherever books are sold.
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