Whoopi Goldberg was a huge Star Trek fan, even before she got the chance to play our favorite bartender.  The Academy Award winning actress is known for the fantastic roles she's played over the years.  From "Sister Act" to "The Color Purple", she has played nuns to thieves, but she always be known as Guinan to Trek fans throughout the world.

In a recent question & answer session with Yale Daily News, Whoopi recalls the story of joining Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Q. I heard somewhere you are a fan of Star Trek. What draws to you to the show?

A: I am a big fan of Star Trek because before Start Trek there was no other sci-fi that had people of color in the future. I always thought that was really depressing. Along came Star Trek with a beautiful black woman and people from all over the world. They seem to be happening in the future. I said I would like to do that in the future at some point. When I got the opportunity, I asked to be part of it. But they were like ugh, they don’t wanna … The person I asked was LaVar Burton because he was doing it. I said, “Tell them I wanted to do it very much,” and told them all the reasons. He said OK. A year went by and nothing happened. When I saw him next I said, “What happened?” They didn’t believe me. I said, “Give me the phone number,” and I called them. We had a meeting with Gene Roddenberry who asked me the same question you just did. I told them the same thing I told you. I never thought about it that way. So he wrote the last character that he wrote for me, and that’s how it happened.

Check out the rest of the interview here.