Wanda Sykes Says She Was Tricked Into Auditioning for ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’
Larry David might know Wanda Sykes’ tush anywhere, but it took some backroom BS for him to choose her cheeks on Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Over the course of 10 years from 2001 to 2011, Sykes appeared in nine episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm as one of the more memorable side characters to only score single-digit credits on the lauded show. The Emmy-winning comedian has been a begrudging staple of comedy shows and movies ever since her time producing and writing on the critically acclaimed The Chris Rock Show in the late 1990s, but there’s one particular part of being a constantly working comedic actor that has always rubbed Sykes the wrong way — the auditions. Sykes fashions herself an “offer only” actor due to her acrimonious relationship with the selection process, which has forced her agent and certain showrunners to resort to devious dealings in order to trick Sykes into trying out for a role.
Predictably, David is one such deviant, having conspired with Sykes’ representation to test her for her now acclaimed appearance on his long-running HBO show. Sykes explained the duplicity David employed to hire her on Curb during her interview on yesterday’s Late Night with Seth Meyers, an appearance which, presumably, did not require an audition.
“They tricked me into auditioning 'cause I hate auditioning,” Sykes told Meyers of her unwilling addition to the Curb cast. “I don’t like to audition. For one, I stink at it. I’ve been in a casting session and had papers snatched out of my hand, like, ‘We don’t want you to have the script anymore.’”
Sykes continued, “A friend of mine, she was producing Curb at the time. She said, ‘I really wanna get you on this show.’ I said, ‘Well, you know I’m not going to audition.’ She said, ‘Just come by and meet Larry. We’re shooting at a car dealership today, just come by and meet him.’” Sykes agreed to a meet-and-greet, but as soon as she arrived to the impromptu conference room, she quickly smelled that something was up. As Sykes recalled, “I get there and I’m like, ‘There’s a lot of Black women buying Toyotas today. This is weird.”
Despite the deception, Sykes still agreed to speak with David, saying, “I go in, I meet him, and we’re just talking. He goes, ‘Okay, so you’re out walking, and I’m just going to say, “Hey, I know that tush anywhere!” And I was like, ‘Why the hell would you say something that to me?!’
“(David) was like, ‘Yup, she’s got the job!’”
