Corpulent chatty OPRAH WINFREY’s plan B – reinvent herself as an A-List Actress, say insiders.
The former talk-show queen is angling to expand a small role in director Lee Daniels’ upcoming feature “The Butler” into an Academy Award-winning performance. And she’s also pushing to fill the shoes of tragic singer Whitney Houston in the long-anticipated sequel to “Waiting to Exhale.”
“Oprah’s stock as a TV star has fallen considerably since she retired her talk show. So she’s decided to raise the career bar and go for Oscar gold!” an insider told The ENQUIRER.
“She wants to revive her once-promising film career (Oprah was nominated for an Oscar for ‘The Color Purple’) with high-profile roles in several upcoming movies. And she’s absolutely convinced she’s going to win an Academy Award for ‘The Butler.’”
But Oprah’s plans don’t exactly coincide with those of the film’s producers and director. The source says she’s been “driving them crazy” with demands to juice up the part and improve her dialogue.
According to the source, Oprah told Oscar-nominated director Daniels point-blank: “I want an Academy Award, so make my character fabulous. Pull out all the stops!”
Oprah, 58, served as executive producer on Daniels’ breakthrough 2009 film, “Precious,” and now she thinks it’s time he paid her back for helping him make a name for himself, said the source.
The new movie, scheduled to begin filming in June in New Orleans, centers around a black man who grew up in the South and went on to work as a White House butler through several presidential administrations.
Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker will play the butler, Oprah will play his wife, and Jane Fonda is set to play Nancy Reagan.
The TV icon is also lobbying hard to nab the role of Whitney Houston’s character Savannah in “Getting to Happy,” the sequel to 1995’s “Waiting to Exhale.” She’s even told producers that “Whitney would have wanted me to stand in for her,” said the source.
“Oprah has achieved all of her business goals and then some,” the source added. “Now she wants recognition for her acting ability.
“And No. 1 on her bucket list is taking home an Oscar.”
