Eoin Butler's Q&A

WHOOPI GOLDBERGThe comedienne and actress talks music, politics and rejection

You’re one of a handful of performers to have an Oscar, an Emmy, a Grammy and a Tony. Which was the easiest?

The easiest? God, none of them.

There isn't one an untalented person could just blag?Are you kidding me? They're all really tough. You work on something you think is fantastic, people yawn. Then you work on something you think no one will ever see, it's a smash hit. Audiences are . . . unpredictable. So you work hard and hope for the best. But if you're not talented, you'd better go make yourself a No-Talent award.

You're promoting 'Sister Act: The Musical'. Is the musical faithful to the film?It's a little different. This Deloris is in her 20s instead of her late 30s. So she's at the beginning of her career rather than the end, which is exciting. Also, as Motown has a musical of their own, we couldn't use those particular songs. Alan Menken stepped in and wrote an amazing 1970s pop score. The script has been rewritten since it played in London, so the version that's running in New York is the one that's coming to Dublin. It's spectacular.

You signed on to do the film shortly after winning a best supporting actress Oscar for 'Ghost'. Presumably you were swamped with offers. What attracted you to that particular role?No, I wasn't swamped. There was no deluge of offers. I took the part of Deloris in Sister Act because no other offers came in. Someone asked, "Would you like to play a nun in a movie?" I said, "Sure."

You couldn't get work? How could that be true?For the same reason that it is now. I was too old, too black. After a while, the rejection got to be a thing. I decided I was going to do TV.

You currently host a very successful US afternoon show called 'The View'. Five hosts and one guest: that's an unusual format.It's terrific. We discuss absolutely everything: love, sex, politics, race, men and women. And we have tough conversations. We're all very different people, so you never know what anybody is going to say. Sometimes we agree when we expect to disagree. Other times we'll disagree when I'd expect us to agree. I'm not sure there's another show like it on television.

You've clashed with a couple of guests. Anyone you couldn't stand?There are, but I won't name any names.

Bill O'Reilly of 'Fox News'?Sure.

Donald Trump?Trump, I didn't have a problem with. I just thought he was being ridiculous. Bill O'Reilly was being judgmental about an entire group of people he didn't know anything about.

O'Reilly was criticising the proposed construction of a mosque near Ground Zero. Right. He was painting an entire group in a negative light. He was rilling people up and he didn't seem to see the danger in that. So I split. I walked off the show.

From Bill O'Reilly to the Muppets – some people might say that's a smooth segue. Have you seen the new Muppet movie yet? I understand you have a cameo.No, I haven't had a chance to see it yet. But I'm very much looking forward to it. I play myself. I'm at a fundraiser.

Speaking of which are you going to campaign for Obama in 2012?Um, probably. Yeah.

As enthusiastically as you did in 2008?Yeah. He's gotten out of a lot of bad situations. Is there more he could have done? Sure. But still I wouldn't trade the last three years for a continuation of the previous eight. I think he's done more to reunite the US with the rest of the world, to remind us that we're not in an isolation chamber, that what we do impacts on he rest of the world and vice versa.

What about Guantanamo and marriage equality? Weren't those big issues for you?I get that not everything is going to go the way that I want it to go. But he passed health care. For the first time in US history people have access to health care. I realise how ridiculous that must sound in Europe. But in the US, that's kind of amazing.

Sister Act: The Musicalis at the Grand Canal Theatre in Dublin, December 20th- January 7th