The actor and comedian Wanda Sykes makes an unexpected move into feature drama in Undercard, directed by Tamika Miller and co-written with Anita M. Cal. In the film Sykes embodies Cheryl “No Mercy” Stewart, a once-dominant fighter who now works as a coach while trying to keep her sobriety intact. The role asks her to balance tough exterior traits with tender, complicated relationships: a strained bond with her son, guardianship of her late sister’s child, and a budding romance with a woman who offers vulnerability and care.
Training for the part required Sykes to get physically grounded in a boxing environment. She learned both to spar and to handle the mitts as a coach, committing to the technical demands of the sport so that the character’s authority and credibility in the gym feel authentic. The film places boxing at its center as a lived-in backdrop, while the narrative really explores personal restoration and community ties.
The character and the emotional core
Cheryl Stewart is introduced as a woman whose boxing reputation precedes her, yet her present life is largely about repair. She’s in long-term recovery from alcoholism and trying to rebuild trust with her son Keith, played by Bentley Green. That mending process intersects with the pressure of training a promising boxer and managing the practical and emotional responsibilities of raising Meeka, her late sister’s child. The story foregrounds how public toughness and private fragility coexist.
Family, responsibility and second chances
The mother-son dynamic is the film’s engine: years of absence and disappointment create a charged environment where every decision carries weight. Cheryl’s role as guardian introduces a constant threat of outside systems like Child Protective Services, which raises the stakes for her sobriety and parenting. The narrative treats sobriety and guardianship as active, ongoing challenges rather than single moments of drama, giving the characters room to fail and try again.
Boxing as setting and metaphor
Director Tamika Miller found inspiration inside real gyms, where she observed the rhythms of training and the particular authority of trainers who are women. Miller’s own time at places like Wild Card fed the film’s authenticity, while her Miami roots inform the film’s sense of place and history. The boxing world operates as both the literal arena for competition and a metaphor for resilience, legacy and the ways people protect what matters to them.
Technical work and preparation
Actors prepared physically to sell the film’s boxing scenes: learning footwork, timing and the language of the corner. Sykes’s commitment to training allowed her to inhabit the dual role of fighter-turned-coach convincingly. The production’s use of negative space and off-center framing also underscores emotional isolation and community context, evoking neighborhoods with deep cultural histories without flattening those settings into mere backdrops.
Queerness and representation
Undercard weaves queerness into the protagonist’s life with subtlety and normalcy. Cheryl’s romantic interest, Mariana (played by Roselyn Sánchez), is portrayed as a genuine connection rather than a plot device. For Miller, whose lived experience shapes the film’s approach, including queer relationships as part of the character fabric was essential: these relationships are presented as everyday aspects of human desire and companionship.
For Sykes, playing a live-action queer character on film represents a new dimension in her work. She has previously portrayed gay characters on television, but this film gives her a deeper dramatic canvas to show vulnerability, longing and the courage to start again.
Reception, supporting cast and creative context
Undercard features a supporting ensemble including Berto Colón, Estella Kahiha, Xavier Mills and William Stanford Davis. The film has resonated on the festival circuit and among audiences who appreciate stories about underdogs that emphasize dignity and complexity. Miller’s writing and direction combine personal memory, community history and the structure of the sport to craft a portrait that is intimate as much as it is kinetic.
Beyond the film itself, Sykes has continued to be a vocal public figure, noted for moments such as accepting awards with pointed gestures of solidarity. In interviews she has described how meeting Miller and reading the script convinced her this dramatic turn was the right next step, and how the role allowed her to stretch into new emotional territory while honoring the physical demands of a boxing world.
Why Undercard matters
At its core, Undercard is a story about the labor of repair—repair of relationships, of reputation and of personal stability. Framing that work within the traditions of boxing gives the film a specific energy, but the universal themes of accountability, love and resilience are what make the film linger after the final bell. For audiences interested in character-driven drama with a strong sense of place and identity, this film offers a fresh and forceful perspective.