Bette Midler Reveals Why She Turned Down ‘Sister Act’: ” I Really Was Afraid of the Costume”

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.