One of the best comedy movies of the 2000s – Bruce Almighty – is probably best-known for Bruce’s (Jim Carrey) on-going feud with newscaster Evan Baxter (Steve Carrell). The character of Evan was such a hit with audiences, that he got his own sequel – Evan Almighty – four years later.
Everyone remembers the hilarious scene where Bruce – who is now God – gets Evan to say and do extremely strange things while delivering a news report to camera. He first makes Evan speak in a squeaky Woody Woodpecker style voice, then changes the teleprompter to say; “The prime minister of Sweden visited Washington today…and my tiny little nipples went to France.” He then makes him fart and also babble incoherently for several minutes.
But Jim Carrey insisted on doing 30-plus takes for some of the scenes, and there are different versions of the newscast scene – some of which are horrifically violent. In a deleted scene featured on FilmIsNow Movie Bloopers and Extras, Bruce gives Evan a horrendous nosebleed, then sets his hair on fire.
Carrey recalled to the BBC that the director had to control him, helping to make one of the best 2000s movies; “Some of the scenes were cut short. Steve Carell when he’s doing the news and I’m messing with him, we took it much further, actually. I mean, his head bursts into flames and everything else, and it just got too violent and horrible. And Tom [Shadyac, director] says, ‘Hmm. No. Too much maybe.’ So, Tom was always there to rein me in.” The scene below is quite bloody, so avoid if you’re squeamish!
It’s probably best that Bruce Almighty avoided going too extreme with the violence, as the comedy movie is popular with kids. Carrell gave Carrey a run for his money when it came to physical comedy, and he became a huge comedy star during that decade, with the likes of The Office, Anchorman and The 40-year-old Virgin.
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