Steve Carell Discusses the Comedy Movie, Evan Almighty

Steve Carell’s Take on the Film’s Religious Elements: “I don’t see it as a biblical comedy,” explained Carell. “I see it as a fable. I see it as a comedy that is based upon a story of the Old Testament. But you know, I don’t see it as a religious comedy in any way, shape or form. I think it’s a fable. I think it’s a tale about a guy who has to make a huge leap of faith.”

“…I think the movie is really for anybody. It is for any faith or non-faith. I think the message behind it is just if people could just be a little kinder and take care of each other and the world we live in. I think that’s a universal theme as opposed to a religious ideology.”

Carell doesn’t believe Evan Almighty should be labeled as a kids movie. “This is sort of a fine line to walk, too. Whenever I hear someone describe something as a ‘kids movie’ or a ‘family movie,’ it immediately has a negative connotation in my mind because I think, ‘Well, as an adult, I wouldn’t go see it by myself, because it’s purely for children and it holds nothing for me and it’s simplistic and it’s kind of easy.’ I don’t see the movie as that. I see it as, I hope, as having a fairly broad appeal. Because I think it’s funny. I think it would be very funny for kids, but I think likewise for adults.

I think message-wise…another fine line. I was hoping that the movie had a strong message, but subtle message, about our environment. About taking care of it and taking care of each other and acts of kindness to one another. And sort of leaving people with a bit of a positive message and making people happy. But my goal beyond that was to make it funny without making it preachy or overly sentimental or overly precious. I don’t think this movie crams any message down anybody’s throat. I think it’s done with a fairly light touch.”

What was the Most Difficult Scene to Shoot? “It might have been those birds on me,” answered Carell. “They were on me for a few days straight - and they were real. That wasn’t a computer-generated flock of birds on me. So, I think the fact they would literally not get off me and I could walk around… I don’t know how they trained them to do it, but they would go nowhere. And frankly, and to be blunt, they were well fed before shooting began. So, that posed its own set of difficulties as well.”

Snakes in a Car: Not to be confused with snakes on a plane, Carell did have some real slithery creatures on him in the car scene. “Well it was interesting, because the snakes that you see [are] CGI’d. The snakes that they used, they couldn’t use because they kept crawling down the back of my jacket. And these were like pythons. These were serious, big, nasty snakes. But they couldn’t use it, because you couldn’t see them. They were there, but they were just like in my clothes. (Laughing) So, I had to suffer through that and they generate a snake over me. But, I did suffer for the art. You have to know that.”

Lovable Animals and Those Not Quite so Lovable: Carell disclosed which animals he enjoyed working with and which ones weren’t quite as much fun. “Lovable? Giraffes and elephants – very soulful faces, kind, sweet, gentle,” revealed Carell. “Reprehensible? The baboons were horrifying. There is one scene when the baboons bring me lemonade and in one take, the baboons spilled the lemonade. I went off book and I improv’d and said something like, ‘Hey man? What are you doing?’ I raised my voice maybe to that degree and the baboon thought I was getting aggressive with it. It bared its teeth and took a very aggressive stance with me. And it scared the hell out of me. After the take the trainer came and said, ‘You know what? Don’t do that. Really, don’t talk to the baboon.’ And then he paused and said, ‘You know what? As a matter of fact, don’t look the baboon in the eye.’ And I’m like, ‘What? Why didn’t you tell me before they were shooting not to look the baboon in the eye?’ So, they were a little ornery.

The camel’s breath… In an enclosed space, a camel’s breath can change the atmosphere of the room. Not only just the smell, they literally seem to change the atmospheric pressure. It’s so disgusting. It’s like they have eight stomachs, each more rancid then the next, and it just comes out of their mouth. So those two would probably be the ones I wouldn’t take home as pets.”

The Many Stages of Hair Growth and Facial Hair: Carell didn’t play favorites when asked which was his favorite wig from the movie. “Oh they were all my favorites, I guess. Just in terms of my intrinsic sexiness in them, I would say the mountain man look. That was like the third stage of growth, which to me looked like a 70’s tennis pro. Kind of like a Bjorn Borg. A little mystery. Might have been a few days without a shower or bath. A little grubby, a little greasy. I think that is my personal favorite.”

Carell had no complaints about the make-up process. “It was fine. You know, the people who applied it were such artists. David Anderson, who is I think is one of the best special effects artists in the business, did all the design and crafting of those wigs and beards. It was about 3-4 hours to put it on in the morning and about an hour to take it off. But I really, I never want to hear myself complaining about it. Because you hear actors complaining about prosthetic makeup and, you know, it’s not fun, but let’s face it. I’m not on a roof in 100-degree weather putting tar down. I’m getting a beard stuck on my face. It’s really not that bad.”

Page 3: Steve Carell on Jim Carrey Comparisons and The Office