Whoopi Goldberg has moderated ABC’s political-ish daytime talk show The View since 2007. In a wide-ranging new interview with The New York Times Magazine, the Oscar-winning actor and comedian discusses how she feels about the program, which has entered a new era of combativeness in the years since conservative co-host Meghan McCain (John’s daughter, FYI) joined the panel. Here’s how the conversation begins:
Before “The View,” your work was so much about storytelling and creating characters. Does the show address those creative impulses? No.
What creative fulfillment do you get from doing it? It’s my job.
Interviewer David Marchese presses Goldberg on her relationship with the show, asking whether she views her role as acting. “In a way, I am playing a role,” she responds. “These are not conversations that I’m having with my friends. If they were, we’d be doing it differently. My friends and I can talk about things in depth in a different way than you can on television.”
Perhaps sensing the possibility of a more explicit critique, Marchese remains on the topic, until Goldberg finally reiterates that The View is her day job and not something she cares to think about, or even watch:
How did “The View” become such a central place for that conversation? I don’t really watch the show, so I don’t know. And I didn’t watch the show before I was on. I guess there’s nothing else like it. And because it’s live, I’m always surprised when people say the things they say. But you know, it’s five people talking, and then there’s this fascination with women and fighting.
What do you think of that fascination? I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it. Grow up. It’s a show. This is what we do for a living.
Do you get any fulfillment from doing “The View”? I get it from the fact that I’m doing anything.
Goldberg goes on to share many wise thoughts on other topics in which she sounds far more interested, like how to prepare your home for a dinner party (“make your bathroom look nice”), the backlash against her George W. Bush jokes in 2004 (“nobody wrote what I actually said”), Hollywood executives (“if a kangaroo decided it wanted to make the studio money, and the studio knew the kangaroo was going to make them money, the studio would give a job to the kangaroo”), and lobster risotto (“truly, to be happy in the world, you must have risotto.”)
An ABC spokespeerson has not responded to SPIN’s request for comment on Goldberg’s interview. You can read the full thing here.
