ED GORDON, host:
Wanda Sykes' brash, edgy comedy has taken her from the stand-up circuit to the small screen to the silver screen. The comedian is a regular on Comedy Central and HBO. "Monster-in-Law" is her latest project. Sykes stars alongside Jane Fonda and Jennifer Lopez in a film about a merciless mother who believes no one is good enough for her son. In the role of a straight-talking assistant to Fonda's character, Sykes conspires to help break up the engagement.
(Soundbite of "Monster-in-Law")
Ms. WANDA SYKES (Comedian): (As Ruby) You know what you need? A project. Or another husband. Why don't you marry another gay guy? That was fun.
Ms. JANE FONDA (Actress): (As Viola Fields) You know, you're right. I do need a project. And I have the perfect one. I am gonna save my son.
Ms. SYKES: (As Ruby) What?
Ms. FONDA: (As Viola Fields) You go use those old contacts of yours to get all the information you can about that little pimp.
Ms. SYKES: (As Ruby) And exactly what do you expect to find?
Ms. FONDA: (As Viola Fields) Everybody's got a past, honey.
GORDON: I wondered why the role in "Monster-in-Law" appealed to Sykes.
Ms. SYKES: I really enjoyed that it wasn't written for an African-American, and I think if I had read it, if it had been written for an African-American, I probably wouldn't have accepted it, because I'm sure it would have been a lot of `girlfriends' and all attitude and no content, and I didn't want to play that part.
GORDON: That characters that you've built early on did have that attitude...
Ms. SYKES: Mm-hmm. Right.
GORDON: ...did have that kind of in-your-face--and it's what brought you to the attention of many, particularly, frankly, white Hollywood found you...
Ms. SYKES: Right.
GORDON: ...where black America had known you for some time.
Ms. SYKES: From "The Chris Rock Show." Exactly.
GORDON: Right. How do you now work against typecasting?
Ms. SYKES: Just saying no. It's really that simple. Just--I just say no to a lot of things. I'm able to do that because I'm a stand-up comic and that's my first love, that's my passion, and that gives me the option to say no to a lot of things, because, you know, I can feed myself with something I enjoy doing.
GORDON: You talk about doing stand-up, and I know having known many a stand-up comedian, having a couple as friends, when you begin, you talk to drunks in small clubs...
Ms. SYKES: Right.
GORDON: ...who are halfway listening or there to heckle you.
Ms. SYKES: Right.
GORDON: And then if you're lucky enough, you do reach the status where you are, you're selling out theaters, you're talking to a completely different audience. When you look at the idea that you've done television, that you're doing movies, we you see the pressure recently, based on headlines about Dave Chappelle and how--whatever the case is with Dave right now, I think most agree a lot of pressure when you start to climb a ladder. Do you ever concern yourself about that?
Ms. SYKES: I try to stay grounded and just remember why I got into this business, why I started doing stand-up. You know, my goal is, I want to be a really good stand-up comic. That's still my journey. I'm still on that, you know. So--and everything else--I mean, it's pressure when, like you said, the people show up in the theaters and you sell them out, because they are there to see you. I mean, my crowd is very diverse, and, you know, I know these people. They work hard, and for someone to put their money up, you know, slap down whatever, 30, 40 bucks to come out to see you, you want to give them a good show.
GORDON: What has been--over the course of your ascension, what has been the most fun for you?
Ms. SYKES: Ed, you said that like I didn't know what ascension meant. `Your ascension.'
GORDON: No. I was just trying to, you know...
Ms. SYKES: ...(Unintelligible).
GORDON: ...sound like I knew what it meant, Wanda, that's all.
Ms. SYKES: I'm just playing with you, Ed.
GORDON: 'Cause you know how slow I am.
Ms. SYKES: Playing with you. I'm sorry. What were you saying? What got...
GORDON: I don't know, Wanda. I'm off track.
Ms. SYKES: OK, you were talking about my ascension.
GORDON: And what does that mean?
Ms. SYKES: You know, my rise. My ascension. Ascension. Ed, you know, it's like when your pants are baggy, you put on some ascension, raise them up. Oh, is that--no, that's suspenders.
GORDON: That's suspenders.
Ms. SYKES: Oh, am I bad.
GORDON: All right, Wanda Sykes, let's try and...
Ms. SYKES: I been--see, I learned something. NPR, you learn something, man.
GORDON: That's why we're here.
Ms. SYKES: Ascension, suspenders. OK.
GORDON: When you put on your suspenders...
Ms. SYKES: OK.
GORDON: ...and climb the ladder, what has been the most fun for you with the climb?
Ms. SYKES: Probably being in the position where I can say no, and also working with the group that I work with. I mean, Chris Rock, you know, Eddie Murphy, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Larry David, now Jane Fonda, you know, Jennifer Lopez. You know, it's humbling but it's also, like, man this is--I'm doing something right, you know. It's just doing good work. I'm glad--now I'm glad I wasn't in "Soul Train" there. That's all I'm saying.
GORDON: I'm glad you weren't in it, too.
Ms. SYKES: I'm very happy I was able to throw that script off the side of the Hollywood Hills when I got it. I was close to firing my agent. Like, `What is this?'
GORDON: Did you get it, honestly?
Ms. SYKES: Yeah.
GORDON: Did they send it to you?
Ms. SYKES: They sent it all around. Everybody got it. Everybody. Everybody got that script.
GORDON: How disheartening is it for you sometimes to...
Ms. SYKES: Oh God.
GORDON: ...see the scripts that are sent to African-American actors?
Ms. SYKES: It's embarrassing. It really is. And not just the scripts that are sent around, but when you go into a pitch and they have these guys and they're pitching you a story and it--they never sa--you can just feel them saying, `Let's blacken it up,' you know. And it's embarrassing, it's insulting, and it--you realize how far we are away from, you know, where we need to be in Hollywood, you know.
GORDON: In spite of all the gains that we've seen...
Ms. SYKES: And Hollywood--yeah, exactly. Exactly.
GORDON: ...in the last couple of years, we're still a long way away.
Ms. SYKES: Exactly. Just to give you an example how bad it is, somebody pitched me an idea where basically I'm an invalid. I'm really, you know, ill, you know, just--you know what an invalid is. This is NPR. I forgot. I forgot I don't have to explain stuff on NPR. But I'm an invalid, but somewhere in the script I have a bouncing car, you know. So I have a car with hydraulics, you know. They want black people like this to give them room to make fun, to do those type of jokes.
GORDON: What can we look for coming up? I know you're always cooking something, so what can we look for?
Ms. SYKES: I'm cooking something. Well, because I missed "Inside the NFL," because I was touring, I'm doing a segment on Bob Costas' new show called "Costas Now." I have a segment on his show called "Disrespecting the Game." So instead of just the NFL, I have the whole world of sports to ridicule. So I'm looking forward to that. And also working on a couple of animated projects. One's called "The Barnyard," where I play Bessy the cow, and the other one is called "Over the Hedge," and that's--I play Stella the skunk. Yeah, I have a great agent. I'll give you his number. I'm sure you'll love that.
GORDON: Well, you know what?
Ms. SYKES: Nothing cute and cuddly. Skunk.
GORDON: That's the new thing now. That's the new thing.
Ms. SYKES: Yeah. That's the thing.
GORDON: And they're calling, and that's what counts.
Ms. SYKES: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Exactly.
GORDON: Wanda Sykes, always good to see you. The new movie is "Monster-in-Law." You, Jane Fonda and J. Lo, not bad company.
Ms. SYKES: Not bad.
GORDON: Thanks for joining us.
Ms. SYKES: Thank you.
GORDON: "Monster-in-Law" opens in theaters on Friday. To hear an extended version of my conversation with Wanda Sykes, log on to our Web site at npr.org.
That does it for the program today. To listen to the show, visit npr.org. If you'd like to comment, call us at (202) 408-3330.
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I'm Ed Gordon. This is NEWS & NOTES.
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