50 Fun Facts About Sister Act

Which comedian, an Oscar winner for Ghost, plays Deloris Van Cartier?

She later admitted she thought the first film was 'just stupid' and only did the sequel when Disney agreed to finance her dream project, Sarafina!.

Which star, the screenwriter's first choice for Deloris, turned it down fearing fans would not want her as a nun?

Paul Rudnick pitched the film to Scott Rudin in 1987 with her in mind.

Under what pseudonym is screenwriter Paul Rudnick credited on the film?

Half a dozen writers including Carrie Fisher and Nancy Meyers rewrote it until it no longer resembled his script, so he asked for a fake name.

Which Dirty Dancing director made Sister Act?

He had won an Oscar for the documentary He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin'. He died in 1993, a year after the film.

What is Deloris's real surname, before she adopts the stage name Van Cartier?

She sings in a Reno lounge under the fancier name. Watson is Rita's surname in the sequel.

In which city is Deloris singing when she witnesses a murder?

Her married gangster boyfriend Vince LaRocca owns the club. She has just tried to return a gift she realises belongs to his wife.

Who plays the mobster Vince LaRocca?

He was in the middle of his early-90s run of Thelma & Louise, Bugsy, Reservoir Dogs and Bad Lieutenant.

What is the name of the police lieutenant who hides Deloris in the convent?

He sweetens the deal by promising the struggling convent money for its trouble.

What is the name of the parish where Deloris hides?

It is in a run-down San Francisco neighbourhood. St. Francis is the high school in the sequel, and St. Paul's is the real church used for filming.

What name does Deloris take as a nun?

The others are the real nuns she befriends: bubbly Mary Patrick, deadpan Mary Lazarus and shy novice Mary Robert.

Who plays the stern Reverend Mother?

She resigns as abbess when she feels her authority has been undermined, then changes her mind after the Reno rescue.

Which upbeat, optimistic nun does Kathy Najimy play?

It was her first major film role. She went on to play Mary Sanderson in Hocus Pocus the next year.

Which nun leads the convent choir, badly, before Deloris takes over?

Mary Wickes played the elderly deadpan sister. Deloris is ordered to join the choir as punishment for sneaking out to a bar.

Which traditional hymn does the choir sing at Mass before swerving into gospel and rock and roll?

Reverend Mother is furious, but the monsignor is thrilled because new people came to the service.

Which Mary Wells hit does the choir rewrite as 'My God'?

Smokey Robinson wrote the original in 1964. Deloris had already sung it in her Reno lounge medley.

Which head of the Catholic Church comes to hear the choir at the end of the film?

He gives them a standing ovation along with the Reverend Mother, the monsignor and Lieutenant Souther.

How do the nuns get to Reno to rescue Deloris?

Reverend Mother does the guilt-tripping. Vince's men then cannot bring themselves to shoot a woman in a habit.

Which song does the choir perform for the pope in the finale?

'Shout' plays over the closing credits, and 'Oh Happy Day' belongs to the sequel.

Whose song 'Shout' plays over the closing credits?

Deloris, the sisters and her old backing group the Ronelles all sing it.

Which real Noe Valley building in San Francisco stood in for the parish?

The shops across the street were dressed down to look run-down; Noe Valley is actually upper-middle-class.

Roughly how much did Sister Act gross worldwide against its $31M budget?

It sat at number two for four weeks behind Lethal Weapon 3, Patriot Games and Batman Returns in turn.

What distinction did Sister Act hold in the US home video market in 1993?

Touchstone put it out on VHS in November 1992.

Which Beverly Hillbillies actress sued the studio for $200M claiming the film plagiarised her book project?

She and her partner turned down a $1 million settlement and lost. The judge sided with Disney.

Who provided the singing voice for shy Sister Mary Robert?

Wendy Makkena played her on screen. Marc Shaiman composed the score.

How many weeks did the Sister Act soundtrack spend on the Billboard 200?

It peaked at 40 and went gold in January 1993, and platinum in Australia.

What is the subtitle of the 1993 sequel?

Bill Duke directed it. Critics panned it, but it became a cult favourite once it hit TV.

Sister Act 2 is loosely based on the life of Iris Stevenson, a choir teacher where in Los Angeles?

In the film the school becomes St. Francis in San Francisco, where Deloris herself went as a child.

Which future Fugees star made her breakout as student Rita Watson in Sister Act 2?

Michael Jackson reportedly offered her a solo deal off the back of it; she stayed with the Fugees.

Where is Deloris headlining her own show at the start of Sister Act 2?

The act is based on her adventure hiding from the mob in a convent, until the sisters turn up to drag her back.

Which book does Deloris give Rita to persuade her to follow her passion for singing?

Rilke's letters. Rita's mother had banned her from singing because her late father failed to make it as a singer.

Which hymn does the St. Francis choir perform, with hip-hop moves, at the All-State finale?

Broad City recreated the scene in 2016 with Whoopi Goldberg reprising her role.

Which pop star said Sister Act 2's soundtrack was the only secular music of her childhood?

She told Rolling Stone she was raised on Lauryn Hill and Tanya Trotter's version of 'His Eye Is on the Sparrow'.

Which British singer credits Ryan Toby's singing in Sister Act 2 as his main inspiration to pursue music?

Toby went on to form the group City High. The film also inspired nearly thirty gospel choirs in Japan.

The star agreed to make the sequel only after the studio agreed to fund which project of hers?

She said 'what the hell, I'll make some more money off 'em', but admitted people like both films.

Roughly how much did Sister Act 2 gross worldwide, on a $38M budget?

About half the first film's take, on a $38 million budget. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 19 per cent.

Who wrote the music for the Sister Act stage musical?

Glenn Slater wrote the lyrics. The score is 1970s disco and Philly soul rather than the film's Motown covers.

In which city and decade is the stage musical set, unlike the film?

Deloris is 'Lady Fabulous' of 1978 and her gangster boyfriend is renamed Curtis Shank.

Which actress originated Deloris in the West End at the London Palladium in 2009 and then on Broadway?

She was 24 and cast after a year-long search. Raven-Symoné later replaced her on Broadway.

How many performances did the Sister Act musical run on Broadway before closing in August 2012?

It got five Tony nominations including Best Musical, and four Olivier nominations in London.

Which streaming service announced in 2020 that a third Sister Act film was in development?

Whoopi Goldberg went to Rome to meet Pope Francis in 2023 in preparation, and Sheryl Lee Ralph has confirmed she will return.

Who directed Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit?

Duke later said critics of the day 'didn't get us' and that a Black director handling a film of that scale was not readily accepted at the time.

Who composed the instrumental score for the first Sister Act film?

His cues sit alongside Fontella Bass, Etta James and C+C Music Factory tracks on the Hollywood Records soundtrack released the same week as the film.

Which order of nuns is the St. Katherine's convent said to belong to in the film?

Despite that, Sister Mary Patrick's habit looks more like the one once worn by the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Third Order of St. Francis.

Which Disney Channel star replaced Patina Miller as Deloris on Broadway?

Like Miller before her, she was making her Broadway debut in the role at the Broadway Theatre.

In Sister Act 2, why does administrator Mr. Crisp want St. Francis closed?

When he finally finds the choir in Hollywood, the Reverend Mother thwarts him by claiming the competition entry was his idea, so the archdiocese keeps him on the job.

Which gospel song does the St. Francis choir perform at a school assembly in Sister Act 2?

The number features Ryan Toby, who later joined the group City High and whose voice in this film Harry Styles has cited as an inspiration.

Who arranged the finale version of 'Joyful, Joyful' in Sister Act 2?

Warren, an original member of the a cappella group Take 6, folded a bridge adapted from Janet Jackson's 'What Have You Done for Me Lately' into the arrangement.

In which country did Sister Act 2 inspire the founding of nearly thirty choirs?

Community centres rather than churches offered gospel choir lessons, with non-Christians saying they wanted to sing like the nuns in the movie.

Who is Deloris's gangster boyfriend in the stage musical's original West End version?

The Broadway rewrite renamed him Curtis Jackson; in both versions he and his goons dress as nuns to sneak into the convent.

Which producer-director was announced in 2020 as producing Sister Act 3 with Whoopi Goldberg?

Goldberg travelled to Rome in October 2023 to meet Pope Francis while preparing the film, and said in March 2025 that the script was complete.