Oscar-winning actor Whoopi Goldberg said she made a personal appeal to Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry to secure a place on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Goldberg shared that she wanted to be given the shot to be as inspirational as Nichelle Nichols was in her groundbreaking role as Lt. Nyota Uhura in the original Star Trek, which aired on NBC from 1966 to 1969, in a recent interview with Vulture.
Goldberg said she learned about the show originally from Levar Burton, who played Lt. Commander Geordi LaForge in the 1987-1994 television series and four feature films in the intergalactic franchise. When Burton visited Goldberg's home, she asked him, "Can you tell them I would like to be on it?... Yeah, I love Star Trek."
Nothing happened for a year initially until Goldberg asked Burton, "Can you get me Gene Roddenberry's number?" She arranged a meeting with Roddenberry and executive producer Rick Berman, who asked her, "What is this about?"
"I said, 'Listen, I have watched science fiction my whole life, and Star Trek is the only time that I ever saw Black people in the future. Not only was it a Black woman in the future, but she was in charge of communications. She wasn't serving coffee. So for some little girl, I would like to be what Nichelle [Nichols] was for me. Two days later, he sent me Guinan," Goldberg said.
Guinan was a sage who was many hundreds of years old and served as bartender in the Enterprise-D Ten-Forward lounge. Goldberg recurred in the role over four seasons and the films Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: Nemesis. Sir Patrick Stewart invited Goldberg to reprise her role on CBS AllAccess revival, Star Trek: Picard.
Source: Vulture