Bette Midler was almost in the Sister Act and would have been iconic.
The Hocus Pocus actor said the costume was the dealbreaker for her, despite her wearing a cape in the Disney Halloween movie.
“They came to me with Sister Act, and I said, ‘My fans don’t want to see me in a wimple.’ Can you believe that? How off the wall is that? How crazy is that?” recalled Midler in an interview with Variety. “Jeffrey Katzenberg called me every day, [saying,] ‘Please, please.'”
“I stood my ground because I really was afraid of the costume. Isn’t that amazing?” she added. “I can wear anything but a nun’s habit?”
Whoopi Goldberg was cast for her role, which Midler praised, saying Goldberg, 67, “wore it all the way to the bank.”
Sister Act and its prequel, Sister Act: Back in the Habit, made nearly $300 million in theaters worldwide.
“So God bless her. And she was perfect for it,” Medler added.
