Luketic encouraged every actor involved to contribute his or her two cents, but no one added as much overall comedic value as talented actress and comedienne Wanda Sykes. On a daily basis, Sykes would come up with hysterical shtick that brought tears to the eyes of cast and crew alike. Her talents led Luketic to call her the “comic muse of the film” and earned her the nickname of “the unstoppable Wanda Sykes.” “Wanda blew away all our expectations,” says producer Chris Bender. “I think it was (New Line production president) Toby Emmerich who first brought her up. We’d all seen her on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and thought she was hilarious, and then some of us had seen her stand-up act, but with Wanda in the role of Ruby, the character just came alive like it never had before – even the writing of the part came alive.
“Wanda created this incredible duo with Jane,” Bender adds. “Their camaraderie not only services insight into Viola’s character, it also stands on its own as truly incredible comedy.”
To round out the main cast, the filmmakers needed to find just the right actor to play the character of Kevin Fields.
“The whole point of Kevin is that he is the perfect guy,” says Anya Kochoff. “He’s a great guy and a super-good catch. He’s good looking, funny, successful and a caring doctor. He possesses all the personality traits most women look for in a husband. The only thing wrong with him is his mother.”
The production found their man that fit the description perfectly in Michael Vartan.
Lopez agreed that Vartan was the right man for the job. “The relationship between Charlie and Kevin is the through-line of the movie, so without a strong man to deal with these zany, crazy ladies to keep it going, you’re in a lot of trouble,” she says. “Michael is solid that way.”
Vartan was thrilled to have the opportunity to take on the role and particularly enjoyed cutting loose during everyone’s favorite fantasy sequence.
“I do play the straight guy, so I didn’t really have the opportunity to be funny,” he says. “But the cake scene where Kevin proposes to Charlie in front of his mother and she imagines shoving Charlie’s face in the cake, allowed me to cut loose. I could do all this weird stuff and be out of my mind. My best moments will probably be in the outtakes.”
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