Find out what happens when Patrick Stewart asks Whoopi Goldberg to reprise her role on Picard.
Star Trek: Picard starts tomorrow and Jean-Luc Picard actor Patrick Stewart stopped by the view to talk about it. The show picks up 20 years after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). It follows Picard on a new adventure along with a new ship and crew. Several actors are returning to the new CBS All Access show including Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine) Jonathan Frakes (Riker) and Brent Spiner (Data). The show has been renewed for season two and is filming
One of the co-hosts, Whoopi Goldberg. played the El-Aurian bar owner Guinan. She appeared in 28 episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation between 1988 and 1993. It was a wonderful reunion for the actors.
During the interview the 79-year old actor interrupted to ask a question. “I’m here with a formal invitation, and it’s for you, Whoopi,” Stewart said. “Alex Kurtzman, who is the senior executive producer of Star Trek: Picard, and all his colleagues, of which I am one, want to invite you into the second season.” Everyone holds their breath.
Watch what happens.
As the audience erupts into cheers Whoopi, obviously overcome with emotion gets up and embraces Stewart. “Please say yes,” the actor begged. She blurts out “Yes, yes, yes.” It’s a wonderful moment.
As they sit back down again, she’s obviously choked up. “I’ve said this on the show before, but Star Trek was one of the great experiences, from the beginning to the end,” Goldberg said. “I had the best, best, best time ever.” He says, “It was wonderful having you, and we cannot wait to have you with us again one more time.” African-American host Star Jones jumped up and gave her a congratulatory hug as well.
64-year old Caryn Elaine Johnson is known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg. She started as a comedian before moving to movies and television. She’s been nominated for 13 Emmy Awards and is one of a handful of entertainers to have won an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award (EGOT). Goldberg is the second black woman to win an Academy Award for acting.
Whoopi Goldberg first appeared in the second-season of Star Trek: The Next Generation as a bartender in the “Ten-Forward” lounge of the USS Enterprise-D. Guinan was a recurring character over the next four seasons before appearing in the movie Star Trek: Generations. She’s a mysterious alien several hundreds years old that defuses difficult situations using folk wisdom and humor. Guinan often understands things that others on the ship don’t like when the crew travels through time or enter parallel universes.
The show has a special place in her heart. Whoopi Goldberg was a huge fan of the original show and met creator Gene Roddenbery to say “I really want to be on this show.” When Goldberg was nine she saw the show and ran to tell her family “Come here, mom, everybody, come quick, come quick, there’s a black lady on television and she ain’t no maid!”
She later met with Roddenberry and executive producer Rick Berman who asked her why. The actor said, “Do you not know that, prior to your show, there were no black people in any sci-fi, anywhere?”
Whoopi Goldberg was talking about the communications officer Lt. Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols on the original Star Trek TV series from 1966 to 1969. The role inspired a young Whoopi Goldberg. “When I was a little girl, it was like, ‘Oh, we are in the future.’ Uhura did that for me,” she told Roddenberry and Berman. “So I want to be on your show” The character was written in for the newly designed “Ten-Forward” lounge and the name was based on Mary Louise Cecilia “Texas” Guinan, a prohibition-era owner of the “300 Club” in New York City. The rest is history.
“The View” co-host Joy Behar asked Stewart if Goldberg would have to lose the blonde twists in her hair he said, “She can do whatever she wants.”
When they asked Stewart if it was hard to reprising the role. “It’s easy…. Picard has aged 18 years, fictionally, and Patrick Stewart has aged 18 years actually,” he said. “And I don’t have to work at it because it’s just me, it’s who I am now! We have such a team of writers on this show, it’s astonishing, and I wanted to show that Picard’s world had changed because Patrick’s world has certainly changed, and we are no longer now living in the same kind of society we lived in 18 years ago.”
When Goldberg’s fellow View panelist Joy Behar asked Stewart if she’d have to dye her hair to age for her return as well, Stewart said she “doesn’t have to do anything” to qualify for another day on the set.
“She’s Guinan, and who knows what Guinan’s history really is,” he observed. “That could be one of the excitements down the road!”
I’m excited for all the characters to return but Guinan has always been a wonderful mystery to solve. It’s such a touching reunion and I’m looking forward to her joining the show.
The first episode of Star Trek: Picard premieres Thursday January, 23, 2020 on the streaming platform CBS All Access!
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About the Author Maurice Mitchell has been a passionate science-fiction fan of movies, television, books, and comics since age five. He and his twin brother Nigel created the site “The Geek Twins” to share that passion. Maurice has written and created infographics for sites like The Geek Twins and About.com. His work has been featured on sites like Business Insider, io9 Slashfilm and more. Read more of his posts | Follow him on Twitter @Mauricem1972 |
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