Some movies are such an entrenched part of the culture, we stop what we’re doing and watch them anytime they’re on, and can even time it to just check in on our favorite scenes. That’s how we feel about “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.” As much fun as the first film is, there’s something special about the interaction between Whoopi Goldberg and her teenage co-stars that makes the sequel standout. Plus, the music is unforgettable.
To celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary, the EGOT winner gave us all a fantastic piece of nostalgia on Wednesday’s “The View” when she staged a reunion with several members of the movie’s cast and crew. Goldberg was joined by Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, Sheryl Lee Ralph and some of the actors who played the students in the choir.
The actors who played Sister Mary Clarence’s rule-breaking students shared beautiful memories of how Whoopi protected and supported them during filming. She stopped the hair team from cutting one young man’s hair, she sat with a girl who wasn’t really fitting in and even put together a high school graduation for the kids who couldn’t attend their own.
“We couldn’t go back because production wouldn’t allow it because we were on location,” David Kater, who played one of the classroom kids, said. “I was super upset, too, because I had written the song for my graduation — I went to an arts high school, so it was a big graduation thing. And this beautiful lady right here just surprised us with the most amazing gift which was basically corralling everybody and giving us an on-set graduation.”
Show-stopping performances of “Oh Happy Day” and “Joyful, Joyful” were the highlights of the emotional episode. What became clear was that this cast was very close and that connection is one of the reason’s the film continues to resonate with fans 30 years later.
Before you even ask, no Lauryn Hill was not there. However, Ralph, who played her character’s mother, had nothing but praise for her on-screen daughter. She also revealed the origin of their now famous scene where she tells her daughter she won’t make it as a singer.
“I had no idea that that scene was going to land that way,” the Emmy winner said. “In my mind I was channeling my Jamaican mother when I told her I was going to be an actress. ‘You’re going to be an actress? Working with all of those fake and phony people? On my hard-earned money? No! No!’ So in my mind in that scene, I’m playing my mom. If my mom could have seen these things, she’d say, ‘Lord God Jesus, you’re good girl!’”
Seriously, we need to get going on “Sister Act 3,” because now we really want to see more of Sister Mary Clarence and her friends.
In case all this nostalgia has put you in the mood for a rewatch, both “Sister Act” and “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” are available to stream on Disney+.