Baboons, Birds & Burlap: The ‘Almighty’ Trials Of Steve Carell

“I do the cha-cha like a sissy girl. I lik-a do da cha-cha.”

In 2003, rising star Steve Carell uttered those words (and a torrent of other gibberish) as stuffy newscaster Evan Baxter, in a “Bruce Almighty” scene that demanded to be rewound and played again. Though his appearances in the film were brief, his talent was undeniable.

With this weekend’s arrival of “Evan Almighty,” Carell is now a seasoned veteran. In just four years, he, like Evan Baxter, has truly become a mighty force.

“You know, now I’m much more important in the big scheme of things,” Carell joked to Access Hollywood‘s Tony Potts at the film’s premiere. “[My kids] don’t even know me anymore. I’ve changed, I’m a huge jerk. They’re like, ‘who is that? Oh that’s daddy.’”

Carell’s character in “Evan Almighty” really is important in the big scheme of things. After all, it’s not just anybody who is charged by God to build an ark for the coming flood.

And where there’s an ark, there are animals.

“Yeah, there were two doves having some sort of marital dispute on my body,” Steve said about a particularly harrowing day on the film’s set.

“Aren’t doves the sign of peace?,” asked Tony.

“Ironically, they are,” Carell replied. “I was so freaked out about having birds all over me, that I really didn’t heed much, pay much heed, heed much attention. I didn’t heed them.”

But there was one animal he couldn’t help but heed during shooting: an ornery baboon.

“Don’t look the baboon in the eye,” he advised. “Best rule of thumb. You don’t want to push the baboons, you don’t want to improvise with the baboons. You just let them be baboons and they’re fine.”

The occasional aggressive animal wasn’t the only challenge Steve had to face for the film. There was also the matter of the stifling costume Carell had to wear as a modern Noah — not to mention the complex hair & makeup that took up to five hours to apply each day.

“It was like a little mini sauna,” he said of having to wear the costume in the summer heat. “And burlap doesn’t, burlap is a very honest and wonderful fabric. Nothing against the burlap manufacturers of the U.S. but it’s not, not something you necessarily want close to your skin.”

Tony could relate to that remark, since he dared to have the entire process done to him — yak-hair beard and all — to see what it was like for himself!

Luckily for Carell, there was one day during shooting that he got to be free from the heavy robes. Completely free.

“I was naked. It was extremely fun,” Carell confessed. “I wasn’t completely naked, I wore — I don’t know the exact — sort of a ‘pouch.’ … It was wonderful, it was a really popular day on set. To see me.”

“Any special workout routine you did for the months leading up to that momentous occasion?,” Tony asked.

“Just staff work,” Steve replied. “Lots of stuff with the staff.”