New York Post

Whoopi’s wild West Jersey

- Ian Mohr

WHOOPI Goldberg bagged a role in a movie after stomping out of her house to complain about noisy activity on her street, according to director Mario Van Peebles.

“I did not cast Whoopi. Whoopi cast herself,” Van Peebles told Page Six of his new Western, “Outlaw Posse,” “I was directing a show on the [Hulu drama] ‘Wu-Tang: An American Saga” in New Jersey, and this neighbor came over all irate yelling, ‘Who is making all that racket,’ and it was Whoopi.”

“When she realized I was directing, I asked her ‘what do you want do next,’ ” Van Peebles said, “and she said, ‘I want do a Western’ and I said ‘I’m getting ready to do a Western.’ Then she said, ‘Do you know who Stagecoach Mary is?,’ and I said ‘Yes.’ ”

Goldberg plays Stagecoach Mary, a mail carrier who became the first black woman to be employed as a major route postwoman in the United States, in the flick.

“She did not do it for free,” he told us, “I still had to pay her and I would not want her to do it for free, but she did it for the right reasons.”

Golberg, of course, is one of the few socalled EGOTs, who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony. Her last movie was 2023’s “Ezra.” He added, “I have my own rule when it comes to casting for a movie: No matter who or what the person is . . . if we were all at camp and we were twelve years old, would I wanna play with you? If the answer is yes — ‘She will be fun to play with!’ — then, yes, you are in the movie.”

A private screening was held at Regal Union Square Theatre Thursday where the “Breakfast Club’s Charlamagn­e Tha God hosted a Q&A after the film with Peebles. Whoopi Goldberg, French Montana and Joey Bada$$ were all in attendance.

Neal McDonough, Edward James Olmos, Cedric The Entertaine­r, Cam Gigandet, DC Young Fly and John Carroll Lynch all star in the film, which is in theaters now.

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