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Bette Midler Shares Why She Turned Down “Misery”, “Sister Act”
By Virginia Chamlee
July 29, 2026
Bette Midler says she turned down Misery over concerns about audiences associating her with the film’s violent scenes
She declined Sister Act because she thought her fans wouldn’t want to see her in a nun’s habit
Both films became major hits, with Sister Act earning nearly $300 million worldwide and Misery winning Kathy Bates an Oscar
Bette Midler is opening up about turning down the lead roles in two successful films.
Midler, 80, turned down the role of Deloris Van Cartier/Sister Mary Clarence in the 1992 comedy Sister Act, which was famously played by Whoopi Goldberg, as well as Kathy Bates’ iconic role in 1990’s Misery, for which she won the Best Actress Academy Award.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, the actress and singer shared her reasoning for turning down the films.
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“I turned down Misery,”Midler acknowledged. “I [didn’t] think I wanted to have it on film that I cut off someone’s foot, because audiences identify the actor with the event. My husband still says I’m a damn fool.”
She continued: “And I turned down Sister Act because I said, ‘My fans don’t want to see me in a wimple.’ And Whoopi [Goldberg] said, ‘Bring on the goddamn wimple.’ ”
Sister Act and its 1993 sequel, Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, made close to $300 million combined in theaters worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo.
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Midler, of course, has had a storied career all her own.
The Academy Award nominee (for 1979’s The Rose and 1991’s For the Boys) has appeared in several notable films, including 1988’s Beaches, 1993’s Hocus Pocus, and 1996’s The First Wives Club, while her biggest musical hits include signature chart-toppers like “Wind Beneath My Wings,” “The Rose,” and “From a Distance.”
Midler recently reunited with her Beaches costar Barbara Hershey, sharing an Instagram post on Thursday, Feb. 26, of the two.
“It’s a BEACHES reunion! Here I am with the great Barbara Hershey! We go back a-ways!!!” Midler captioned the post. The pair costarred in the film in 1988, which was adapted from the 1985 New York Times-bestselling novel of the same name by Iris Rainer Dart.
