A Butch Queer Love Story And A Shot At Redemption: Wanda Sykes In ‘Undercard’
Wanda Sykes sheds the punchlines to portray a queer fighter reckoning with motherhood and an unexpected romance.
Featured image courtesy of Catalyst Studios
From stand up stages to scene stealing turns in film and television, Wanda Sykes has rarely been asked to hold back. In Undercard, she does exactly that.
Directed and co-written by queer filmmaker Tamika Miller, the sports drama casts Sykes as Cheryl “No Mercy” Stewart, a former two-time boxing champion now working as a trainer while maintaining her sobriety. Cheryl is four years into recovery from alcoholism, financially unstable, and fighting to keep custody of her late sister’s daughter, Meeka. She is also estranged from her adult son, Keith, played by Bentley Green, a rising boxer who has little interest in letting his mother back into his life.
The film’s central drama snaps into place when Keith’s gambling-addicted trainer costs him a pivotal match. With his career on the line, he reluctantly agrees to let Cheryl coach him. As the official synopsis puts it, “with everything on the line, mother and son enter an uneasy partnership, balancing ambition, forgiveness, and the price of a second chance.”
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For audiences used to Sykes as comic relief, the absence of punchlines is striking. When the script first came her way, she had questions. “I love it, but there’s not one joke in here. What are we doing?” she recalled in an interview with Them. Luckily, she was up to the challenge.
Miller developed Undercard after years spent immersed in Los Angeles boxing gyms, including the famed Wildcard Gym. In a press statement, she described the fighters she met as “funny, singular, resilient, and driven by the belief that boxing could be their way out of humble circumstances.”
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Bringing the project to the screen took time. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Miller said it has been “a labor of love for over a decade, and seeing Wanda Sykes in her first dramatic role has been extraordinary.” She added, “Bentley Green delivers a remarkable, heartfelt performance as her son, bringing real depth to their story. This film is about resilience, courage and the battles we fight both in and out of the ring. I’m proud of our entire cast and grateful to Catalyst Studios for bringing this story to life.”
One of Undercard’s most intriguing elements is Cheryl’s romance with tattoo artist Mariana, played by Roselyn Sánchez. Their relationship offers a rare depiction of an older butch woman finding love. “I’ve played gay characters on TV shows before. But on film, yeah, I think this is the first one. Of course, I’m comfortable in that role. It was nice to be able to play that, to give Cheryl another level that she is looking for someone, that she can be vulnerable, that even though the things around her are a mess, she wants that.”
Undercard is currently in theaters.
