Whoopi Goldberg moves Sheryl Lee Ralph to tears after Sister Act 3 invitation

At this point, just about the only person Whoopi Goldberg hasn't asked to join Sister Act 3 during an episode of The View is Mary's bald-headed brother named Bart.

After welcoming a series of Sister Act actors and contributors — like Jenifer Lewis, Kathy Najimy, and Tyler Perry — to The View across the last two years, Goldberg moved her Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit costar to tears on Wednesday's episode of the talk show, after formally inviting her to reprise her role in Sister Act 3 and praising her philanthropic efforts.

The Oscar-winning Ghost actress first welcomed the Emmy-winning Abbott Elementary star back to The View for a gestating Sister Act 2 30-year reunion panel planned for a future episode, and sweetened the ask with a formal offer to join the cast of the long-awaited third film in the franchise.

"We're in the process of putting together 3. Would you come be part of it, whatever it is?" Goldberg asked Ralph, whose eyes welled up with tears as she exclaimed Goldberg's name. Before Ralph could answer, Goldberg segued into a highlight of Ralph's charitable work, which made Ralph cry even more.

"Before we go, we want to mention that, later this month, she's going to be honored by the ACLU and awarded the Southern California Bill of Rights Award for all of her incredible work with the DIVA Foundation, an organization that she founded to empower vulnerable communities to achieve better health outcomes," Goldberg said. "She's been doing this for the longest time. Congratulations, this is the real deal, this woman."

Ralph and Goldberg have worked together several times over the years, including in 1993's Sister Act 2, the late Norman Jewison's 1996 film Bogus, Goldberg's Whoopi sitcom on NBC, and on the beloved game show Hollywood Squares.

Goldberg's has recently used The View as a platform to tout Sister Act 3's progression, with her cohosts even lobbying for roles in the project on the air.

In 2022, Perry, a producer on Sister Act 3, revealed on The View that the planned Disney+ release finally had a "great script" in place.

"I loved the idea of us making this happen, but the Hollywood system moves a little slower than I'd like to. We've got a good script, we're off to a great start, we're just trying to get everybody moving in the right direction to get it going," Perry said, while Goldberg later added, "[Disney was] sort of lukewarm for the longest time, they said nobody wanted to see it, and then Tyler went in and said, 'I want to see it. The next thing I knew, we were on! That's the power of TV."

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.

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