Whoopi Goldberg may soon be stepping back into her Star Trek role as Guinan on Star Trek: Picard. Production of the second season of Star Trek: Picard begins soon, and Goldberg hints in an interview with SFX Magazine that she’ll be a part of it. The interview is primarily about her role in the CBS All Access adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand, but she also discussed the streaming service’s Star Trek shows. “I haven’t seen [Star Trek: Discovery] – but I did watch the first season of Picard, which was great,” Goldberg says (via Trek Movie). “From time to time, I talk to Patrick [Stewart] about Star Trek. Hopefully, I will be joining their cast for a little while next year. I’m very excited about that.”
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Ahead of Star Trek: Picard‘s debut, star Patrick Stewart appeared on The View, where Goldberg is one of the hosts. He took the opportunity to personally invite Goldberg to appear on the series in its second season.
“Something that I need to bring up. I’m here with a formal invitation – and it’s for you, Whoopi,” Stewart said. Alex Kurtzman, who is the senior executive producer of Star Trek: Picard, and all of his colleagues (of which I am one), want to invite you into the second season.” Goldberg was quick to say yes to the invitation.
Goldberg played Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Guinan was one of the El-Aurians, a long-lived race of psychically-endowed “listeners” whose homeworld was destroyed by the Borg. In The Next Generation, she is the host at the Enterprise‘s bar and lounge, Ten-Forward. She was also one of Picard’s closest confidants and often offered advice to him and his crew.
Guinan also had some history with Q, the near-omnipotent entity played by John de Lancie. The actor recently hinted that he might be returning to his old Star Trek role, potentially setting up an exciting reunion.
The first season of Star Trek: Picard brought back Jonathan Frakes as William Riker and Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi. Speaking to ComicBook.com in April 2020, Frakes hinted that fans should expect to see more familiar faces in the future.
“I do expect to be back to direct the show, and I also think it’d be a good bet that we’ll some other members of Next Gen because I think the ‘Nepenthe’ test went very well,” Frakes says. As to what that test was, he says, “I think to see if there was an appetite. I think they suspected there was, but I think to see if it would resonate to have Picard reunite with some of the people in a creative way. I’m glad we didn’t come back on the Titan, for instance, that we were found on another part [of the universe]. It’s 33 years or something. As Picard as changed, so has Riker and Troi, and so has Seven.”
Star Trek: Picard‘s first season is streaming now on CBS All Access.
