EGOT winning talent Whoopi Goldberg is the latest cover star for Variety where she reflects on her career accolades and legacy.
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The Color Purple star became an Oscar winner three decades ago. Goldberg earned the trophy during the 1991 Academy Awards for her role in the film Ghost. She won Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the psychic Oda Mae Brown. With Variety, she watched a clip of the moment when Denzel Washington announced her as the winner.
“I looked really good,” she said. “My hair was cool. Dress was cute.”
“I couldn’t look glamorous like other people look glamorous. I wasn’t thin and I wasn’t a white lady, so I had to find my own style.”
She also reflected on the film that earned the comedian her first Oscar and working with the entire cast and crew.
“I don’t think any of us thought it would have this sort of impact,” she said to Variety. “And then the box office numbers started coming in, and everybody was like, ‘Do we have back end on this movie? Because I’d like some.’”
Goldberg continued in her career to host the historic 2002 Academy Award show when Halle Berry and Washington took home Best Actress, and Best Actor, respectively.
“It was kind of wonderful,” Goldberg said of seeing Berry’s victory to Variety. “I had a little tear in my eye, because I always wished it would be me. But you can’t always get what you want; sometimes you get what you need.”
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Goldberg’s career has set the standard and established a path for talent such as Tiffany Haddish to follow. As a semi-newcomer to superstardom, she won a Grammy award this spring. Like her mentor Goldberg, the Girls Trip star has a career in comedy, acting, and hosting. The two costarred together in Tyler Perry‘s Nobody’s Fool (2018) and Haddish hopes to use advice gained from Goldberg to eventually become an EGOT winner herself.
“When I saw [her win], I was like, ‘She’s amazing,’” Haddish said according to Variety. “I didn’t understand the enormity of what an Oscar was at that time. All I knew was that she deserved it.”
She continued, ““To be able to call on her and for her to tell me, ‘Girl, no. Think twice about this. Pick your battles. OK, that’s a good joke; that’s going to do well. I love that you don’t have any fear, but you might want to think twice about this thing,’ is huge for me.”
theGrio reported Goldberg surprised Haddish after the latter’s Grammy win in April.
During her guest-hosting appearance on The Ellen DeGenerous Show, the Bad Trip star, 42, received a video message from Goldberg. Haddish’s “Black Mitzvah” is the second album by a Black woman to win a Grammy for Best Comedy Album with the 2021 victory.
Goldberg made history in 1985 by becoming the first Black woman to win in the category for “Whoopi Goldberg: Original Broadway Show Recording.”
“That’s the one I won 155 years ago,” Goldberg joked.
“And if I was there right now, I’d say, ‘Congratulations, but it’s not a surprise cause you’re one funny woman, one funny woman. You know what I really wanna say,” Goldberg said. “But I don’t wanna say it like that, because I don’t wanna get hit by lightning. But she’s funny. So I’d say just, ‘Congratulations.’”
This article contains additional reporting from theGrio’s Ashley Terrell.
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