Interview: Whoopi Goldberg
Actress and Activist

Tell me about your childhood.

Whoopi Goldberg: I grew up in Manhattan, in New York, a place called Chelsea. And I grew up around lots of different people. So we all grew up speaking a smattering of Greek, Italian, Spanish, Indian, Chinese, Yiddish. I had a great time. There were all sorts of things to play with and to go and be part of. Which now you can do on interactive things like this. You couldn't go and talk to Leonard Bernstein, you could only go watch him conduct. Something I'm very sorry for.

Were your parents comfortable?

Whoopi Goldberg: I can't speak for what they were. I was comfortable. I knew we weren't Rockefellers, but it was never an issue because we went to places we needed to go -- Coney Island, we went on the Circle Line, we had Central Park. There were things you could do without tons of money.

So, I truly don't know what my mom was doing financially. I know that we ate, and times weren't like they are now. I don't know that my mother could have achieved all she achieved on her income today. In today's market, at her income level, I'm sure we would be dirt poor. But back then we weren't.

When did you know what you wanted to do?

Whoopi Goldberg: Oh, from birth.

I knew as soon as I hit that light. I was waving! It's always been. It's as much a part of my whole being as breathing. I always knew this was it. I didn't know it was going to be like this, you know. But I always knew that I wanted to act.

Did you have support at home?

Whoopi Goldberg: I grew up in a time when it would never have occurred to anyone to tell me there was anything I couldn't do. You know, I grew up in a time when the country was very pro the people who lived in it. That's why as many changes were able to happen, the March on Washington came into reality. People really believed that they had a stake in the country. So there were all kinds of invitations to make the country better. So there was never for me, anyone saying, "No, you're going to fail," or "No, there's no place for you." The only thing my mom every said to me was, "It may be tough, but what isn't?"

What was it about acting that you knew it was right for you?

Whoopi Goldberg: I have two theories on that. One theory I believe is that when people die the spirit flies from them and fragments, and goes into people who are just coming into being. I believe I got hit with a lot of fragments from various people, that's my first theory.

Like who?

Whoopi Goldberg: John Garfield. I feel a very great affinity to him. That's a whole other discussion.

That's why you were so effective in Ghost.

Whoopi Goldberg: Probably, because it's my belief. I think probably that did help me a lot in Ghost,

I believe that we keep the circle. The circle doesn't break, it just reinvents. The other thing is, I just love the idea that I could go be a princess from Greenland in the movies and it's cool. There's no one to say, no, you can't be from Greenland. There's no one saying, you can't be from Hungary. So the idea that you can go into the past, the present and the future, you know, I just think it's too cool.

You can be anybody.

Whoopi Goldberg: Anybody, and anything. Who's to say? I could be this great, big microphone, if I had to be. You never know.

Was there a particular experience that meant a lot to you?

Whoopi Goldberg: Yeah. When John Kennedy was running for president he came to my neighborhood. It was the hottest day in a century, it was like 9,000 degrees. People came from all over Manhattan to my neighborhood to see this guy who talked about my country, and my part in it. This was the coolest thing. I was like seven or eight. My mom was there, she had on her pedal pushers, those pants that they now call Capris.

What did seeing JFK tell you?

Whoopi Goldberg: Well, it simply meant that this was my country.

This guy who was going to be the president was coming to my neighborhood to tell me that he was thinking of me. I mean, because I took it very personally. I thought it was very, very cool. I'm a big believer in whistle stops, you know. I believe it's good for the people you're supposed to represent to see you, to feel your essence. So that you as a politician know that when you're setting legislation, you're setting it for real people. People who will be affected by what you decide.

What does the American Dream mean to you?

Whoopi Goldberg: I am the American Dream. I am the epitome of what the American Dream basically said. It said you could come from anywhere and be anything you want in this country. That's exactly what I've done. The great divide between my era and the eras that come after me is that you are not getting the encouragement and the "hands-on" from your government.  A lot of times your teachers have been left out in the cold.  So it's hard for them to focus the way that teachers were focused when I was a kid.  There's not a lot of work out there as there were when I was a kid. We had programs that were set up by the country. So, the fact that you're making it now, makes you 5,000 times the person that those who came before you were. Because we had a lot of help, and there's very little help out there now.

What persons were important to you?

Whoopi Goldberg: I think I'm one of those people who was affected, really, truly, by everybody that I met, in a very magical kind of way, you know. I feel a bit like the golden child. But you only know that when you look back, and see the people who touched you and how friends, and camp counselors, and people who denied your humanity, that you overcame, you know. All those people who said you couldn't, and you shouldn't, and you won't, and you will never -- and you did. All those people affected me, and went into making me the sum total of what I became, and what I've become.

Are there teachers that stand out?

Whoopi Goldberg: No, not really. Just fragments of speech that I remember from various times, but can't necessarily put faces to.

But there are people whose goal in life was to instill the positive ideal that you could go forward. That anything you wanted was yours for the taking, with a commitment to hard work. And knowing that it wasn't always going to be easy. People who taught me that the hardest thing to be in this world, is someone who disagrees with popular people. To take unpopular stances in front of popular people. It's easy to be unpopular with unpopular people, but it's harder to be unpopular with popular people. The people that instilled that in me, I take my hat off to. Because that is the foundation that has allowed me to do exactly as I please, and be and look just like I want to.

I think you're really talking about having guts.

Whoopi Goldberg: I don't know if it's guts, I think it is. I think of guts as something that gives you that Kirk Douglas look. But I think what I mean is the knowledge that it is okay to feel differently than the pack. That that is a fundamental right. That it's okay to disagree. It's better to be able to disagree and have a dialogue, than to go along with the pack and be truly unhappy. I don't want to be truly unhappy. I mean, there's enough out there to piss me off. You know, to bother me. I'm sorry, there's enough out there to bother me.

Were there any books that made a particular impression on you?

Whoopi Goldberg: I'm dyslexic, so there weren't a whole lot of books in my early life. But I did love stories. I love fairy tales and I love spooky stories. Anything with a good 25 to 30-minute brain trip for me to go on. I still like to be read to.

When did you find out you were dyslexic?

Whoopi Goldberg: When I was a grown woman.

When I was a kid they didn't call it dyslexia. They called it... you know, you were slow, or you were retarded, or whatever. And so, I learned from a guy who was running a program who I met one day and he had written out on a board a sentence. And I said to him, "You know, I can't read that." And he said, "Why not"? And I said, "Because it doesn't make any sense to me." So he said, "Well, write down what you see under each. Whatever you see, write exactly what you see underneath." And so, he brought me to letters by coordinating what I saw to something called an A, or a B, or a C, or a D, and that was pretty cool.

Once you got into the habit of doing it, it became much easier. Probably, by the time people see this in 2025, they will have been able to eliminate it. They will be able to eliminate it with just an adjustment, a little implant.

What you can never change is the effect that the words "dumb" and "stupid" have on young people. So we must always be vigilant when those two words get stuck in our throat. "Hey, dummy! God, you're so stupid." You know. Just remember that what those leave you with are forever, you know. Be it in 1810, or 4010, you know. The effect that they have is the same.

It doesn't seem to have stopped you.

Whoopi Goldberg: No. Because I knew I wasn't stupid, and I knew I wasn't dumb. My mother told me that. Everybody told me I wasn't stupid or dumb. If you read to me, I could tell you everything that you read. They didn't know what it was. They knew I wasn't lazy, but what was it? It's like in the early days when little girls complained about having cramps. Their mothers, and their mother's mothers were just sort of left to deal with it, because it was all in your head.

It took 25 or 30 years for people to understand that menstrual cramps are a real thing, that PMS is a real chemical change in the body. Think of all those little girls whose mother said to them, "Why do you just want attention?" It's still new information that these things are actual body problems. Postpartum depression is a real, viable thing. Now they can help people.

What was the most exciting moment in your career?

Whoopi Goldberg: Sitting at the table during Color Purple and looking up and suddenly realizing I was acting in front of Steven Spielberg, was pretty cool. It was pretty good. Because it was like, suddenly, I got it. I was there. I was in a movie. Not only was I in a movie, but I had a big part in the movie, you know. And I just started laughing, and laughing. It took about 25 minutes to compose myself, but it was pretty remarkable. Because, you know, there was an idea whose time had come, for me. And that it was with Steven Spielberg was pretty cool.

Do you remember the first time you acted on the stage?

Whoopi Goldberg: I was a teapot. I was a small teapot, short and stout, here was my handle, this was my spout. And I was like seven. It was the greatest. I was just bowing, and bowing. They had to come get me off the stage. I just kept bowing. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you." You know. All the other pots are gone. Born ham, that's basically me. It's the truth. My mom told me. I'd forgotten it. She also tells the story of my birth. I'm almost half kidding when I say, I came out and waved. My mother says that I came out head, arm, other arm, thumb in mouth, immediately. They were astounded, because generally that's not what you do. I was born clear, you know. They just kept calling people. I was just hanging out, thumb in my mouth. Some people are just born that way.

What characteristics do you think are most important for success?

Whoopi Goldberg: We're born with success. It is only others who point out our failures, and what they attribute to us as failure. I think the idea that you know who your inner self is on a daily basis, because... you know. What's good for you 25 years ago may not be good for you now. So, to keep in touch with that, I think that's the first ingredient for success. Because if you're a successful human being, everything else is gravy, I think.

What do you say to kids who want to be actors?

Whoopi Goldberg: Come on! Come on! You know, be an actor because you love to act. Don't be an actor because you think you're going to get famous, because that's luck. But if it's what you want to do with your whole heart and soul, come on. Go everywhere, learn everything. Learn Shakespeare. Shakespeare is great fun. Don't be thrown by the words. The words are the same words that we use with a little different implementation. Write things for yourself. Come on, it's a great way to spend time. It's a great way to learn history. It's a great way to learn all kinds of things. But only come if you're coming to play. If you're not coming to play, you should get another gig to supplement your acting.

What did getting the Academy Award mean to you?

Whoopi Goldberg: It was pretty cool, I have to say. I liked it. I would like to do it again one day. It was very cool. I used to make speeches when I was a kid, you know, thanking all the little people. And suddenly, there I was having to make a real speech! I touch my Oscar every day. I move him from one place to the other and then back.

You also hosted the awards.

Whoopi Goldberg: Oh, yes. I liked it. When else are you going to get to play with several billion people? It's just one more thing I can write in my diary: Dear Diary, played for two billion today. I have this whole book of things that I've gotten to do. I've gotten to play at the White House, which is kind of neat. I've been all over the world. I've met amazing people. Life can be grand. It can be tough, but it can be grand.

What were the difficult aspects of your success?

Whoopi Goldberg: People expecting me to be more than I am. Expecting me to live up to their expectations, when perhaps I can't. People forgetting that I get cranky, and I get crabby, and I don't always want to be Whoopi Goldberg. Some days I'm just not in the mood. The lack of privacy is tough.

I went to the bathroom once and people followed me in, and a lady put her hand up under the stall with a pen and a piece of paper, wanted my autograph. I said, could I just finish what I'm doing first? So sometimes people just forget, or they grab you and they don't realize that, you know, you're a person that feels. They grab my hair. People grab my hair and go, Whoopi!! And not realize that I don't mind saying hello, but hey! That hurt, you know. Or when you're rushing, or you're preoccupied and you just can't stop. People aren't always understanding. And so you feel bad because you don't want them to think ill of you. And you come to a place where you say, "You know what? Too bad. I have to go." So that's kind of tough.

Is it harder to be centered when you're well-known?

Whoopi Goldberg: The reality is, I'm quite off-center. It's a daily workout trying to implement those things that you believe. It's hard sometimes, and I'm cranky and crabby. I don't always practice what I preach, but I do pay for it when I realize that I haven't.

It's a lot of work just being human. You add celebrity on top of that and it's like living 45 lives.

Thank you, Whoopi. It's been a pleasure.