Oprah Winfrey on Living Her ‘Best Life’, New TV Drama ‘Greenleaf’

— -- Oprah Winfrey is an entrepreneur, talk show queen, magazine publisher and founder of the OWN television network, but she is also Academy Award-nominated actress, and she’s returning to television in the new drama series, “Greenleaf.”

Premiering next week on OWN, the series tells the story of the scandal-filled family that runs a megachurch in Memphis.

Winfrey is the show’s executive producer, and she also plays the character Mavis. She described playing Mavis as “stepping into Maya Angelou’s skin, if she ran a bar and loved the blues and was sort of the mother of the neighborhood in a blues joint.”

The family depicted in the series prays together –- but also knows how to break a commandment or two.

“Yeah, otherwise you wouldn’t have a church show, you’d have Sunday morning church service. So I love the fact that we are able to tell stories ... I’ve loved telling stories my whole life,” Winfrey said, adding: “My whole thing is about being able to say something that will drop a little bit of light into people’s lives so they feel like, ‘Wow, I’ve watched that. That was really fun. That was really entertaining, but hmm.’”

Winfrey has her hand in other projects as well. She recently bought a 10 percent stake in Weight Watchers in October and also joined the program as a member. Earlier this month she revealed that she had lost 30 pounds.

Overall, life is good.

“I would have to say, sometimes I am speaking somewhere and somebody will do a resume. They’ll read my resume and all (I’ve) done and 25 years of television and all that. And I often think, nobody ever says ‘wow, she is so content. She has so much peace. She has so much happiness.’”

The 62-year-old said she is living her best life.

“I am actually doing it. I really only do what I want to do when I want to do it. That’s the best life,” she said.

“Greenleaf” has a two-night premiere on June 21 and 22, and then airs weekly Wednesday nights on OWN.