CELEBS | Whoopi Goldberg: “I Am Where I Am Because I Believe In All Possibilities”

If there is one actress who knows the art of ageing playfully that would be Whoopi Goldberg. The legendary comedian is one of only a dozen people on the planet who is in the famous EGOT club, meaning she’s won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and a Tony Award. Being popular for acclaimed performances such as “The Color Purple,” “Ghost” and “Sister Act,” to name a few, Whoopi, 65 today, knows growing older is inevitable, but it’s not always easy to accept. Thank God she has never lost her sense of humour: “I look a little bit like a Dalí painting these days – she said about herself-. I feel like everything is just sort of sliding down my body“.

Growing Older

However, when it comes to talking about ageing, Whoopi Goldberg’s ability to be funny turns out to be even more poignant. This feature was evident in a video that the actress uploaded to her YouTube channel in August 2015. In the two-and-a-half-minute clip, titled Rollin’ With Whoopi | Gettin’ Old, the actress started listing the things that made her a “lil’ old lady,” including having “many animals,” her grand and great-grandchildren, her “swollen feet,” and “boobs playing hangman.”

It was not the only time Whoopi Goldberg addressed ageing, though. In a 2017 interview with the “Graham Norton Show,” she mentioned what she called “balding pudenda” as another sign of growing older. For her, the best advice on ageing is this: “What’s the alternative? – she says- The alternative, of course, is death. And that’s a lot of s*** to deal with. So I’m happy to deal with menopause. I’ll take it.”

Confidence is the key

Aside from all her jokes, Whoopi comes cross as very inspiring and poignant when it’s time to talk about self-esteem and confidence.

The most important thing is that you have to listen to your truths, desires and wants – she said-. And you have to believe you deserve all of it. I am where I am because I believe in all possibilities. Trust me, We’re born with success. It is only others who point out our failures, and what they attribute to us as a failure.

Her Career

Whoopi broke through into the mainstream in the mid-1980s when Steven Spielberg cast her in the lead role of his film adaptation of “The Color Purple“. She was nominated for an Academy Award for the role; she took home the Golden Globe. A few years later, she became only the second African-American woman to win an acting Oscar, this time for her role as psychic Oda Mae Brown in “Ghost.”

Shortly after she was considered the highest-paid actress of all time, going on to star in many other films, stage shows and television. As well as writing several children’s books and non-fiction books, she has been a co-host on “The View Show” since 2007. Unfortunately, 2019 was a challenging year for the actress as she had to take a long break from the scene due to a nearly fatal case of double pneumonia and sepsis. Thankfully, Whoopi Goldberg managed to beat the illness and is a lot healthier.

All I really want to do is just keep acting, and some of it will stink, and some of it will be really good – she explains- and maybe when I’m 85 and presenting an Oscar-like Bette Davis did, I can look back and say, it was okay, I did all right.

Nowadays, she is focused on her career while also spending time with her great-granddaughter, Charli Rose, – one of her biggest joys– who was born when the actress was 58 years old.