Bette Midler On Turning Down ‘Sister Act’ And Her ‘White Lotus’ Dream Role

Whoopi Goldberg melted the hearts of an on-screen congregation, in addition to a technology of moviegoers, in 1992’s “Sister Act.” However, a special diva practically performed the lead within the beloved musical comedy.

Appearing on the “Just for Variety” podcast Tuesday, Bette Midler revealed that studio executives sought her for the position of Deloris Van Cartier ― aka Sister Mary Clarence ― which in the end went to Goldberg.

“They came to me with ‘Sister Act’ and I said, ‘My fans don’t want to see me in a wimple.’ Can you believe that?” Midler stated. Former Walt Disney Studios Chair “Jeffrey Katzenberg called me every day: ‘Please, please.’”

Midler, a three-time Grammy winner and two-time Academy Award nominee, had already showcased her performing chops in a lot of motion pictures, together with 1979’s “The Rose” and 1988’s “Beaches,” by the point “Sister Act” started manufacturing. Still, she wouldn’t be swayed.

“I stood my ground because I really was afraid of the costume,” she recalled. “Whoopi wore it all the way to the bank. So God bless her. And she was perfect for it.”

But Sister Mary Clarence wasn’t the one iconic character that Midler didn’t assume was a match. She stated she was additionally thought-about for the killer position of Annie Wilkes within the 1990 movie adaptation of Stephen King’s “Misery.” That half went to Kathy Bates, who obtained an Academy Award for her portrayal of the diabolical nurse who holds a bestselling novelist (performed by James Caan) hostage.

“I just couldn’t. It was too violent,” Midler defined. “The character was so not funny, so without any qualities of redemption.”

In the years for the reason that launch of “Sister Act,” the Divine Miss M has continued to rack up a powerful listing of performing credit, together with 1995’s “The First Wives Club” and 2012’s “Parental Guidance.”

Last fall, she reunited with Kathy Naijimy and Sarah Jessica Parker within the Disney+ hit “Hocus Pocus 2,” the long-awaited sequel to the 1993 Halloween favourite. And later this month, she’ll be introduced with the distinguished collaborator award on the 2023 Costume Designers Guild Awards in recognition of her display and stage work.

As to what tasks she’d prefer to deal with subsequent, Midler stated she would be a part of HBO’s “The White Lotus” forged “in a New York minute.”

“[Writer-director] Mike White pokes fun at the worst kind of people, the truly entitled and rich people behaving badly,” she advised Variety. “Everybody likes to see them get their comeuppance. I really enjoy that. It’s the great saga of the haves and the have-nots, which is eternal.”