Whoopi Goldberg has been famous for a lot of things for a long time. And, while most people who've been well-known for as long as she has usually change their style at least a few times, Goldberg has been sporting her signature dreadlocks (in one length or another) the entire time she's been famous. Well, now that Goldberg has signed on for a starring role in the CBS All Access version of Stephen King's The Stand, she's going to have something sorta different going on with her crowning glory for a while.
Whoopi Goldberg will be playing the embodiment of good in The Stand, Mother Abagail, and as such, the part requires a new look for the dark-haired actress / comedian / EGOT winner / talk show host / sometime nun. The 10-part miniseries is currently filming, and instead of wearing a wig for her new look, her own follicles have been altered accordingly. Take a look at her debuting the new style on The View:
Wow. Kind cool, huh? As Whoopi Goldberg noted when she spoke about her new hairstyle, she basically had to go grey, because Mother Abagail is over 100-years-old. It turns out that this won't be Goldberg's only changes for the role, either, and she promised that she'll also be "painted up" when we finally get to see her in the part, noting that "it's kind of amazing what these guys have done with my face."
Whoopi Goldberg also made sure that everyone knew to get used to her silvery locks, because she'll be sporting them for about four months while she films The Stand.
In Stephen King's novel, Mother Abagail is 108-years-old and was already well on her way to outliving all of her loved ones. It's assumed that the weaponized flu virus that escaped from a military facility and killed 99.4% of the population also killed her remaining family, but Abagail, who has the ability to see the future as well as psychic tendencies, realizes that she's been chosen to help lead a group of survivors.
However, their mission isn't just to survive and rebuild civilization, they have to make a stand against Randall Flagg, the embodiment of evil, and his followers to try and make sure that good triumphs over evil in the new world order.
Whoopi Goldberg's character is known for being deeply religious, as well as wise, nurturing and kind, but she has bitter streak just from having to live so long that she saw all of her family die. Honestly, this role already sounds like a perfect fit for Goldberg, and I can't wait to see her bring Mother Abagail to life.
The Stand is a sprawling story that involves many characters, and, obviously, Goldberg will be joined by several other actors who also have major roles. Her direct opposition, Randall Flagg, will be played by True Blood and Big Little Lies alum Alexander Skarsgard, while Amber Heard (Aquaman), James Marsden (Westworld), Odessa Young (Assassination Nation), Jovan Adepo (The Leftovers), Henry Zaga (13 Reasons Why), Brad William Henke (Orange Is the New Black), Owen Teague (IT Chapter Two) and Daniel Sunjata (Manifest) will fill out the rest of the cast.
We can all watch Whoopi Goldberg's Mother Abagail when The Stand hits CBS All Access at some point in 2020. But, until then, be sure to keep up with all of fall's TV premieres!
