Why Patrick Stewart Questioned Whoopi Goldberg's Star Trek: TNG Casting
The story is well known to Trekkies. Whoopi Goldberg, when she was a young girl, recalls flipping on the television and seeing a particular science fiction show for the first time. There were two white men on the bridge of a starship, and behind them sat a Black woman wearing an outsize earpiece, serving in the space military alongside them. Of course, the series was "Star Trek," and the character Goldberg noticed was Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols. Goldberg recalls running to her mother and exclaiming "There's a Black lady on television and she ain't no maid!" Goldberg admits to being a Trekkie ever since.
In 1987, "Star Trek: The Next Generation" had debuted, and Goldberg had already become a major star. Her breakout role came in 1985 in Steven Spielberg's "The Color Purple," but she was already well-known for her film and comedy work. Not only was there a new "Star Trek" on TV, it happened to star one of Goldberg's actor friends, LeVar Burton, who played the Enterprise's engineer Geordi La Forge. Goldberg asked Burton if he could talk to the show's producers about the possibility of her appearing on "Star Trek," which likely took the showrunners by surprise. A star of Goldberg's caliber wouldn't necessarily want a job on sci-fi TV at the time.
The showrunners invented a character named Guinan for Goldberg. She served as the civilian bartender on the Enterprise, doling out advice and generally being affable and wise.
Having a giant star on "Star Trek" baffled Captain Picard actor Patrick Stewart. In a recent interview with the New Yorker, Stewart recalled a side conversation he had with Goldberg, asking her why she would want to do TV at this point in her career. Stewart found her answer to be direct and satisfying.
Goldberg was inspired by original series cast member Nichelle Nichols
Stewart, it seemed, didn't know the above story yet, nor that Goldberg was a fan of "Star Trek" and an admirer of Nichelle Nichols. Stewart, ever the careerist, was only concerned with Goldberg's current level of fame and the acting projects that fame afforded her. It hadn't quite occurred to the actor that Goldberg was there because she passionately wanted to be. Note that this was the late 1980s, and television was still viewed by many in the industry as a "lesser" medium than film. A movie star stayed in the movies, and a TV star stayed down below on the lower tier. For a big movie star to appear on television was considered "slumming." Stewart was still, like everyone else at the time, of that mindset. Hence his befuddlement.
Stewart directly asked Goldberg why she would be doing TV, and told the following story about her response:
"One day, they were lighting a scene or changing scenery, and she was sitting alone. [...] So I sat beside her and said, 'Whoopi, I don't understand why you agreed to do this.' And she told me the story of when she was a child, what the original 'Star Trek' had meant to her [...] And she said, 'There was also a Black woman in the cast. And it made me think, One of us must have made it.' It was her presence not just in the role but in the future — 'One of us is going to make it.' I loved that. And we've become close friends ever since."
Guinan appeared on 29 episodes of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and was an invaluable presence. She returned for episodes of "Star Trek: Picard" as well.