Wanda Sykes is the ‘Almighty’ secret weapon

Finding a kindred spirit in Carell
“I’ve been traveling a lot, you know, like to Paris and Brazil and I’ve been just doing new things like snowboarding,” Sykes said. “So I talked more about that because I was just so sick of talking about, you know, how Bush is screwing up everything. I can’t do it any more. I just take Ambien. I’m going to take a nap and just sleep it out man. Wake me up in ’08 man.”

The political and religious themes in “Evan Almighty” might give her some new material. It’s certainly given her a new appreciation for Carell and the things he had to go through in doing God’s will.

“Working with Steve, we didn’t try, we did,” Sykes said. “We just cracked each other up. Steve is very funny and the guy, he shows up. He works hard. Me, I would’ve been complaining the whole time — you know with the hair and he had to go through so much with the makeup and the birds all on him and they’re pooping on his head. He just got into the spirit of the thing. So, you know, you just had to have fun with it.”

Carell dug working with Sykes as well.

“I was so close to ruining so many of her takes because she just makes me laugh,” he said. “She’s kind of beyond funny. She has a very sarcastic, biting sense of humor and she’s kind of made her mark that way. But in person, she’s very warm, very sweet and kind. (She’s) kind of a gentle soul that you don’t necessarily see.

“I hope I haven’t pulled the curtain aside on who she really is.”

Sykes is many things. She’s an actress, comedienne, author, screenwriter, wine connoisseur, sports fan, sorority girl and everybody’s favorite cousin at the family reunion.

“My family, they’re funny but they have to work small rooms, you know?”

And, by the end of the summer, she might be pursing yet another vocation. One that will probably have God removing her from his short list of potential ark builders.

“I haven’t done any porn,” she said. “I haven’t ruled it out, I’m just saying I haven’t done any yet!”

Miki Turner is a freelance TV producer/writer in Los Angeles. She can be reached at .

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