48 Fun Facts About Sister Act

Which comedian stars as lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act?

Whoopi Goldberg, who had won Best Supporting Actress for Ghost in 1991, took the part after the script, originally written for another star, was reworked for her.

Which star, the screenwriter's first choice to play Deloris in Sister Act, turned the part down?

Bette Midler was the star Paul Rudnick wrote the part for, but she backed out, telling him 'My fans don't want to see me in a wimple'.

Which Star Wars star was among the script doctors who reworked the Sister Act screenplay?

Carrie Fisher was one of several writers who reworked the script; by the end Paul Rudnick felt it was no longer his and took the screen credit Joseph Howard.

Which Dirty Dancing director made Sister Act?

Emile Ardolino made dance films for PBS and won an Oscar for the documentary He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin'; he had never directed a feature before Dirty Dancing.

In Sister Act's opening flashback, young Deloris names the Apostles by listing members of which band?

The Beatles: asked in 1968 to name the Apostles, young Deloris Wilson offers 'John, Paul, George and Ringo', and the exasperated nun sends her to the blackboard.

In which city is Deloris singing when she witnesses a murder?

Reno is where she sings in a casino lounge run by her married gangster boyfriend, Vince LaRocca; going to hand back a gift from him, she walks in on a murder.

Who plays the mobster Vince LaRocca?

Harvey Keitel played the mob boss for laughs in 1992, the same year as his far bloodier turns in Reservoir Dogs and Bad Lieutenant.

What is the name of the police lieutenant who hides Deloris in the convent?

Eddie Souther, played by Bill Nunn, hides her as a protected witness, then learns a leak in his own department has given her away and rushes to warn her.

What is the name of the parish where Deloris hides?

St. Katherine's is a struggling convent in danger of closing, so when the police promise a generous donation the Reverend Mother takes Deloris in against her better judgement.

What name does Deloris take as a nun?

Sister Mary Clarence is the name the Reverend Mother gives her; Deloris asks if that means Clarence Williams III of The Mod Squad and is told it honours a saint.

Who plays the stern Reverend Mother?

Maggie Smith plays the Reverend Mother, who decides to leave the convent when she feels her authority undermined, then changes her mind after the rescue.

Which upbeat, optimistic nun does Kathy Najimy play?

Sister Mary Patrick, Kathy Najimy's first major film role, welcomes the newcomer on behalf of the sisters with 'a great, big hi there and hello'.

Which nun leads the convent choir, badly, before Deloris takes over?

Sister Mary Lazarus, played by the deadpan Mary Wickes, runs the tuneless choir; Deloris is ordered to join it as punishment for sneaking out to a bar.

Which traditional hymn does the choir sing at Mass before swerving into gospel and rock and roll?

Hail Holy Queen starts as a traditional hymn and breaks into a gospel arrangement; Reverend Mother is furious, but the monsignor is thrilled that new people came in off the street.

Which Motown hit do the Sister Act nuns turn into a hymn by swapping one word for 'God'?

My Guy, the 1964 Mary Wells hit written by Smokey Robinson, becomes 'My God'; Deloris had already sung it straight in her lounge medley.

At the end of Sister Act, what two words does Deloris have for Vince as he is taken away?

Bless you: with Vince under arrest and shouting at her, Deloris says she has two words for him, and out comes a blessing where an insult seemed due.

How do the nuns travel to rescue Deloris from the casino in Sister Act?

By helicopter: the Reverend Mother leads the sisters in praying aloud at a pilot until guilt makes him fly them, and Vince's men then cannot bring themselves to shoot a nun.

Which song does the choir perform for the pope in the Sister Act finale?

I Will Follow Him, the 1963 Little Peggy March hit, closes the concert for the Pope; it had also been part of Deloris's opening lounge medley.

Whose song 'Shout' plays over the closing credits?

The Isley Brothers recorded 'Shout' in 1959; over the credits Deloris, the sisters and her old backing group the Ronelles belt out their own version.

In which city is the convent where Deloris hides in Sister Act?

San Francisco: the church used is St. Paul's in well-to-do Noe Valley, so the storefronts across the street were dressed down to make the neighbourhood look seedy.

Which future star of I Know What You Did Last Summer plays choir member Margaret in Sister Act 2?

Jennifer Love Hewitt had moved from Texas to Los Angeles at ten to perform, and before she joined the St. Francis choir her first album was already out, in Japan but not at home.

Which Disney label released Sister Act in 1992?

Touchstone Pictures was the label Disney set up in 1984 to release more grown-up films without the family Disney name; Sister Act went out under it in May 1992.

Which Beverly Hillbillies actress sued Disney for $200M, claiming Sister Act plagiarised her book project?

Donna Douglas, Elly May in The Beverly Hillbillies, said it copied a screenplay of the book A Nun in the Closet; she and her partner turned down a $1 million offer and lost in court.

How were Sister Mary Robert's solos performed in Sister Act?

Dubbed: the shy novice who finds her voice in the choir is borrowing one, with singer Andrea Robinson supplying the vocals while actress Wendy Makkena lip-syncs.

Which Martha and the Vandellas hit opens Deloris's lounge act?

Heat Wave, the 1963 Martha and the Vandellas single, opens the lounge medley Deloris sings with the Ronelles; its other two songs come back later as numbers for the nuns.

What is the subtitle of Sister Act 2, the 1993 sequel?

Back in the Habit came out in December 1993, eighteen months after the original; critics panned it, but it grew into a cult favourite.

Sister Act 2 is loosely based on the life of Iris Stevenson, a choir teacher where in Los Angeles?

Crenshaw High's Iris Stevenson was to be the subject of her own drama, but Disney, wanting a Christmas 1993 release, reworked that script into the sequel.

Which singer made her film breakout as rebellious student Rita Watson in Sister Act 2?

Lauryn Hill, then 18, played Rita, who joins the choir against her strict mother's wishes and sings 'His Eye Is on the Sparrow' as a duet; the Fugees' first album followed in 1994.

Where is Deloris starring in her own show at the start of Sister Act 2?

Las Vegas is where she stars in a nun-themed act based on her time hiding from the mob, until the sisters turn up in the audience to recruit her.

Which book does Deloris give Rita to persuade her to follow her passion for singing?

Letters to a Young Poet, by Rilke, is a book Deloris says her own mother gave her; its lesson, she tells Rita, is that if singing is all you wake up thinking about, you're a singer.

Which hymn does the St. Francis choir perform, with hip-hop moves, at the All-State finale?

Joyful, Joyful, Beethoven's 'Ode to Joy' rearranged with a rap break and hip-hop choreography, wins St. Francis the All-State competition and keeps the school open.

Which Sister Act 2 cast member later became half of the duo The War and Treaty?

Tanya Blount, who played Tanya in the St. Francis choir, later married Michael Trotter Jr. and formed The War and Treaty with him, earning a Best New Artist Grammy nomination.

Ryan Toby, Ahmal in Sister Act 2, later sang on the hit 'What Would You Do?' with which trio?

City High took 'What Would You Do?' into the US top ten; before that, Toby had co-written Will Smith's hit 'Miami'.

Which Magnificent Seven star plays Mr. Crisp, the administrator set on closing the school in Sister Act 2?

James Coburn plays Mr. Crisp, who wants St. Francis shut so he can take early retirement; Barnard Hughes is the well-meaning principal, Father Maurice.

Which original Dreamgirls star plays Rita's strict mother in Sister Act 2?

Sheryl Lee Ralph, Broadway's first Deena Jones, plays Florence Watson, who bans Rita from singing because Rita's late father never made it as a singer.

Who wrote the music for the Sister Act stage musical?

Alan Menken wrote all-new songs with lyricist Glenn Slater, so the stage show uses none of the Motown covers the film is remembered for.

In which city and decade is the Sister Act stage musical set?

Philadelphia in the 1970s is the musical's setting, the story moved back from the film's early 1990s, a shift that suits its disco-flavoured score.

Which actress originated Deloris in the West End at the London Palladium in 2009 and then on Broadway?

Patina Miller had understudied Deloris for six months in the show's American tryout; after a year-long search she won the lead in London at 24, and later a Tony nomination.

Sister Act lost the 2011 Tony Award for Best Musical to which Broadway smash?

The Book of Mormon won nine Tonys that night, Best Musical among them; Sister Act's five nominations brought no wins, and it closed in August 2012.

Alexandrea Martin, one of the classroom kids in Sister Act 2, is which relative of the film's star?

Her daughter: to support Alexandrea Martin as a child, the star had worked as a bank teller, a bricklayer and a make-up artist in a mortuary before films made her famous.

Who directed Sister Act 2?

Bill Duke came to the family sequel from two hard-edged crime films, A Rage in Harlem and Deep Cover.

Who composed the instrumental score for the first Sister Act film?

Marc Shaiman composed the score and arranged the choir's numbers; the soundtrack came out on Disney's Hollywood Records label.

Which gift from Vince does Deloris try to return in Sister Act after learning it was his wife's?

A purple mink coat is Vince's peace offering, until Deloris learns it was his wife's; marching in to hand it back, she sees him have an informant shot.

Which former child star took over as Deloris on Broadway in March 2012?

Raven-Symoné, on television since The Cosby Show at the age of three, had about three weeks to learn the part before making her Broadway debut in it on 27 March.

Which gospel song does the St. Francis choir perform at a school assembly in Sister Act 2?

Oh Happy Day, the Edwin Hawkins Singers' 1969 gospel hit, gets a solo from Ryan Toby's Ahmal that turns the school assembly around.

The hip-hop finale of Sister Act 2 reworks a line from which Janet Jackson hit?

What Have You Done for Me Lately becomes 'What have you done for Him lately?' in Mervyn Warren's arrangement, which also turns Naughty by Nature's 'O.P.P.' into 'G-O-D'.

In Sister Act 2, what does Deloris proudly call herself when her students suspect she was a showgirl?

A headliner: after the choir's win Ahmal passes on the rumour that she was a showgirl, and she corrects him with relish, 'I am a headliner.'

Which producer-director was announced in 2020 as producing Sister Act 3?

Tyler Perry was named as producer in December 2020, weeks after the film's star said she had long been told no one wanted to see a third one.