What It Was Like For Whoopi Goldberg To Audition For Steven Spielberg
Many well-known actors have shared their experiences working with Steven Speilberg. And nearly they all have tremendous things to say about him. Among the various notable actors who adored running with the Jurassic Park and Raiders of the Lost Ark director is none rather than Whoopi Goldberg.
For those who do not take note, she starred in his 1985 Academy Award-nominated film, The Color Purple. While Whoopi Goldberg is now best-known for her role and opinions on The View, her ongoing profession in film and television is little short of epic.
And it really all started with a gorgeous memorable and distinctive audition for Steven Spielberg.
The Road To Auditioning For A Legend
Whoopi started her profession in the early Nineteen Eighties when she was skilled by means of Uta Hagen on the HB Studio in New York. Aside from a task in Citizen: I'm Not Losing My Mind, I'm Giving It Away (1982), an avant-garde movie, Whoopi had no film experience. She did, however, make a name for herself in theater, which is something that everyone forgets about the Academy Award, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony award winner. The theater is where she was discovered via famed director Mike Nichols, who Whoopi considers as her mentor.
Whoopi Goldberg's Broadway stardom caught the eye of creator Alice Walker and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Spielberg.
During her May 5th, 2020 appearance on The Howard Stern Show, Whoopi Goldberg explained what it was like to audition for one of the well-known and gifted filmmakers of all time.
"Getting picked by Steven Spielberg," Howard started.
"That was her first role, right?" Howard's long-time co-host Robin Quivers requested.
"Yeah," Whoopi spoke back.
"And it was unorthodox the way he hired you. He rented out a theater or something and just filled it with a bunch of..." Howard mentioned before being corrected through Whoopi.
"No, it was his theater. He had a performance space. And he had heard about me from Alice Walker [the author of "The Color Purple"]," Whoopi explained. "I get a notice from my management. They said 'Um, do you have time on such and such a day, Steven Spielberg wants to see you. We think he's doing The Color Purple. And so, we suggest that you take this meeting'..."
Whoopi, in fact, agreed, given that Steven Spielberg had just finished his first two Indiana Jones movies, E.T. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and, after all, Jaws, his first mega-hit.
"But your audition for--I want to make sure I understand this," Howard mentioned. "Your audition for The Color Purple, in a way, was Steven saying 'I can't get to New York. Come out to L.A. and you'll perform in my theater.'..."
"So, I went to Steven's theater, and I peeked out from behind the curtain. And there were all kinds of people. Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson. And just all these people who were watching me perform. And I just felt like 'I hope I'm good'. Because all those people there, including Steven, were people who I had always dreamed about."
"And you were new to filmmaking, right?"
"Yeah."
Working With Steven Was A Dream
Given that Whoopi was new to acting in film, Howard Stern requested her if she was messing up on the first few days of capturing The Color Purple. But Whoopi claimed that actors should not worry an excessive amount of about that if there is a nice director like Steven Speilberg.
"The great thing for me about Steven Spielberg was his knowledge of film," Whoopi explained. "He would say, 'Did you ever see Koyaanisqatsi?' And I said, "Yeah, I saw that". And he'd say, "Well, remember when the solar is bobbing up and there may be the entire steam on the bushes and stuff, that is the feeling I want'..."
This was very helpful to Whoopi as she could picture exactly the energy and tone that he wanted from each moment. This is how director Steven Spielberg communicated with Whoopi, who had really not been given any direction before in terms of acting. And it was extremely beneficial to her. Especially since she calls herself a visualist.
Whoopi also voiced her concern for being 'bad' to Steven. And he asked her if she had ever been 'bad' before, to which she responded, "Yeah, I've been horrible." Whoopi said that Steven told her that working on the movie will present times where she will be terrible, but that's what he is around to help her with. And this kind of support allowed Whoopi to relax into her role and give one of the best performances of her life.
A performance that not only earned her an Academy Award nomination but one that opened up the door for her incredible career in film and television.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTErZ%2Bippeoe6S7zGiuoZmkYra1edaaqmakmaCybrLOq2SwoJ%2Bkvap5xqijnZqVp7RuwM5mmK6cmam2sLqMn6arZaOpsrexzWaqqaGVoa%2BmvsZo