|
MAKING WHOOPI: As she travels around the country, Whoopi Goldberg is getting an education about Middle America.
"Because [show business people] are in New York or Los Angeles, we hear what other people want us to believe about the rest of the
country," she has learned.
"What I found in my travels is what I am hearing [about Middle America] is not necessarily true. That's exciting to me."
She travels only by bus when she is on business. She won't step on an airplane. And she was that way before the Sept. 11 attacks happened. "I don't like planes. I never have. I haven't flown in six or seven years," she says. It took her two days to go from New York City, where she lives and films Whoopi, to Hollywood, where she was promoting her show. The journey required two drivers and a lot of stops. Goldberg likes exploring places, such as a small barbecue place in the middle of Texas: "I'll go into a place and some woman will yell, 'Ain't you Hoopi? You are Hoopi! Esther, come over here. This is Hoopi!' People are really nice." On the bus, she passes the time by reading. She's caught up in Liars and Saints and Emperor of Ocean Park currently. She watches TV, too. (Favorites: Lucky and Nip/Tuck, both on FX.) Goldberg has a lot of time to think on those rides, too. "I have met a lot of people, and a lot of them stay in my brain and come out when I am touring," she says. "It is kind of fun. This is a big country, and there are a lot of people and they all have opinions." On Whoopi, she plays an opinionated hotel owner name Mavis who isn't afraid to speak her mind. The show opened to big ratings and mixed reviews. |
Copyright © 2004, Knoxville News-Sentinel Co.