Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Guinan
2. Guinan Inspired Herself - But Never Got To Meet Herself In The Process
Ito Aghayere spoke to the impact that Whoopi Goldberg's Guinan had upon her as a young child of immigrants in America. Her family, she said, were deeply conservative, which dictated the shows that could be watched in the house. Star Trek: The Next Generation was one of the safe ones, which led to her introduction to Guinan.
Whoopi Goldberg, in Aghayere's opinion, was the 'Puck-like' character who could run rings about Picard, as learned as he was. For her, this was an incredibly important example of representation on television. She described herself as 'the epitome of a Black nerd' - so watching Whoopi steal scenes 'out from under' Patrick Stewart felt very empowering.
When it came time to audition for her Guinan, Aghayere was tremendously excited throughout the whole process, though lamented that due to the Pandemic, she never got the chance to meet Whoopi Goldberg in person.