Oprah Winfrey, despite her busy schedule running her own television network, OWN, was convinced to appear as Gloria Gaines, opposite Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker in the film "Lee Daniels' The Butler". Director Lee Daniels convinced her the project is 'something bigger than ourselves.'
Her iniitial reluctance grew as she read the book and did the character of the wife of the butler who served eight presidents in the White House. Winfrey said, on what she learned about herself from the film, "I came away with a great sense of gratitude. I wondered about myself - to have the personality, the energy and the need for expression I have and not have the opportunities that I have. Forest says that we are a living history. Those who have preceded us allow us to carry on."
Winfrey, in her own time, does carry on in other ways. Aside from her network, Oprah Winfrey has put her time and effort in many charities. One of them is the Angel Network, which started out small and has grown to receive millions of dollars. Her other charities include the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, The Oprah Winfrey Operating Foundation, the Ambassadors program and the US Dream Academy.
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