2 of 3

Steve Carell and Morgan Freeman with Shadyac while filming 'Evan'

You've made a lot of comedies. Are you interested in making a "serious" movie?

Shadyac: Let's just say I take comedy very seriously. I don't know if I'll ever make a serious movie. But I know this: I don't think I'll ever make a movie without a sense of humor. I love humor. Mark Twain said the basis of all humor is tragedy, and that there will be no laughter in heaven. But I disagree; I think there's going to be amazing laughter in heaven, but a different kind—the kind that comes from joy, not from the roots of pain. I think the Creator gave us a great tool to lighten things up, a great tool to heal ourselves, because I think he knew that we were going to make life difficult for ourselves. So, what a way to lose that difficulty for a moment, by just seeping yourself in laughter.

You almost make it sound like a theology of laughter.

Shadyac: Yes, it's theologically very sound doctrine. One of my favorite lines of Scripture is, "Unless you become like these little children …" Those little children are closer to kingdom of heaven, closer to God. What do they do? They laugh; they play. But when we grow up, we forget. So yeah, I think laughter is as gospel as anything we teach. And it's no accident that it heals as it releases endorphins in the body. People who laugh are generally healthier, at less risk of heart attack.

In the world of music, artists generally fall into two categories. There are "Christian musicians" who make Christians albums for Christian record labels that are being bought mostly by Christians. And then there are musicians who happen to be Christians. I take it you're a director who happens to be a Christian, and not a "Christian director."

Shadyac: Yeah, and I even have a hard time with that label—though you're not going to meet a bigger Jesus freak. Someone asked me the other day, "What's the biggest influence on your filmmaking career?" And they started naming filmmakers. I went, " Naw, it's Jesus actually."

Would you call your films "Christian movies"?

Shadyac: No. I think it's a mistake to think that a "Christian movie" has to be about Christians—or priests or nuns or ministers, or take place in a church. Some of the great movies—from To Kill a Mockingbird to It's A Wonderful Life to Forrest Gump—you can find their roots in truths that are found in Scripture. "The meek shall inherit the earth." "Love thy neighbor as thyself." All those things.

Bruce was PG-13, and now Evan is much more family friendly with a PG rating. Did you and your writers intentionally decide to make that shift?

Shadyac: Not really. It was more a matter of the tone being suggested by the material. In Bruce, you start with a guy who is so full of himself, and that egomania stretches to all ends of his life—even to turning on his girlfriend, because we thought that was true to character. And so it was a PG-13, because that material suggested it.

In Evan, you have an ark, animals, a boat and a flood. The ark story is a story that children embrace. I knew from the beginning it was going to be a PG movie. It would be wrong to have an R-rated or PG-13-rated movie about the ark story.

In the four years since Bruce, we've had The Passion of the Christ. We've had Christians like yourself, Scott Derrickson and Ralph Winter making big, mainstream movies. We've seen more "Christian movies." And now Fox Faith and Weinstein have "faith divisions." What does all this mean in the big picture?

Shadyac: Well the truth is I don't sense any of it, because I don't approach movies that way. I wish we could throw away all the labels. I want people to know who I am by how I behave—and to know my ethic and my spirituality by my movies. I've always approached material that way. So when you say Hollywood is embracing faith-based movies, I don't see it that way. I see them embracing good storytelling, and good storytelling is reaching people of faith.

next page... |  2 of 3

Related Elsewhere:

'It's About Caring'	Printer view
So says Steve Carell, star of the new film, Evan Almighty, a modern-day Noah's Ark tale opening this week. We chatted with the main characters … except God.

---

Acts of Random Kindness	Printer view
n conjunction with the release of Evan Almighty, the Ark Almighty campaign seeks to help churches meet the needs of those in their congregations and communities.