Yahoo Lifestyle Whoopi Goldberg reveals she planned to play Celia Cruz in canceled biopic: 'I aged out'
Goldberg said on "The View" that she perfected her Spanish to play Cruz in a movie that never materialized.
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Whoopi Goldberg and Celia CruzWhoopi Goldberg has revealed that she nearly salsa'd to the big screen to portray legendary Cuban singer Celia Cruz in a canceled biopic movie.
As The View cohosts returned to the live show Monday following a holiday hiatus, the Oscar-winning icon brought with her a juicy tidbit of Hollywood history as she told her colleagues she once brushed up on her Spanish skills in the hopes of playing Cruz, who died in 2003, in a movie that never made it to production.
"I can't say enough about her. We wanted to make a movie about her 35 years ago. I aged out," the 69-year-old said during a discussion ahead of a musical tribute to Cruz on the show, which the program hosted in celebration of panelist Ana Navarro's birthday. "I had all my Spanish, I had everything!"
Goldberg didn't reveal any further details about the planned Cruz biopic, though news items that circulated shortly after Cruz's death at age 77 in July 2003 indicated that Goldberg, who was 48 at the time, intended to play Cruz opposite Samuel L. Jackson, who was reportedly set to play Cruz's husband, Pedro Knight.
Entertainment Weekly has reached out to representatives for Goldberg and Jackson for comment.
Earlier on The View, Goldberg celebrated Cruz's legacy and friendship.
"You couldn't touch her, you couldn't touch what she could do. That voice and that power that she had, it didn't matter who you were. She connected to you. The music made you move," Goldberg said. "When you have that power to transform people, it's amazing. She was like no other artist. Still, there's no one like her today."
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Outside of her gig at the head of The View table, Goldberg is next set to appear as an actress in Amazon Prime's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys, following her one-month run as Miss Hannigan in Annie on the New York City stage.
The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET/10 a.m. PT on ABC.
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