Whoopi Goldberg debuted a brand new hair color during Wednesday’s taping of The View. Her usual dark dreadlocks were white, a color she’ll have “for the next four months,” she said to the audience. The change comes as she takes on the role of prophet Mother Abigail in the TV miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s book The Stand.

“The woman I’m playing is over 100 [years old],” she said. “When [King] first wrote this book, Mother Abigail was probably this tall [signifying short], and she looked like Miss Jane Pittman on steroids,” she continued. “And the reason for that was people had no idea what older Black women looked like because no one ever looked at old Black women like that. So now we look at an older Black woman and you’re looking at amazing faces.”

Mother Abigail represents the good side of a world that has descended into chaos after an escaped patient infected with a mutated superflu strain has led to 99 percent of the world’s population dying. She also fights against a man named Randall Flagg, played by Alexander Skarsgård.

As the official description states:

“The Stand is Stephen King’s apocalyptic vision of a world decimated by plague and embroiled in an elemental struggle between good and evil. The fate of mankind rests on the frail shoulders of the 108-year-old other Mother Abagail (Goldberg) and a handful of survivors. Their worst nightmares are embodied in a man with a lethal smile and unspeakable powers: Randall Flagg, the Dark Man.”

The cast also includes When They See Us star Jovan Adepo, Daniel Sunjata, Amber Heard, James Marsden, Henry Zaga, Odessa Young, Brad William Henke and Owen Teague. The miniseries will feature a new ending written by King.

The series will debut in 2020 on CBS All Access.

READ MORE:

‘The Stand’: Whoopi Goldberg To Star In Stephen King Horror Adaptation At CBS All Access

Photo credit: ABC

Owen Teague

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