By Jawn Murray, BlackVoices.com

'The View's' Sherri Shepherd is one of the many talents whose voice can be heard in 'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.'

The 41-year-old, who was an actress on shows like 'Less Than Perfect,' 'Suddenly Susan' and 'Everybody Loves Raymond' before joining the ABC talk show, is the mother of the animated lion, Alex.

The role wasn't a stretch for the soon-to-be divorced 'Beauty Shop' star, who is the mother of a 3-year-old son, Jeffrey.

I caught up with the hilarious comedienne/actress while she was promoting the sequel to 'Madagascar' at the W Hotel in Westwood, Calif.

During our interview, Shepherd talked about working with Elizabeth Hasselbeck, the criticism she received from comic Bill Maher, her thoughts on the late Bernie Mac and her infamous sound bite about whether the earth was round or flat.

You have such a big, humorous personality. But your character in 'Madagascar' is subtle and nurturing. Were you surprised they wanted you for this role?

It was very interesting when I came in for the audition, I thought the character was going to be big and jokey and that's what Sherri does. The director said, 'no. Your son was taken from you very violently and he was returned and can be taken again.' I have a 3-year-old and I was doing 'The View.' At the time I was flying back every weekend to see my baby and I just started crying. Snot was running down my nose and the director says, 'that's where you are.' It's a different timber in your voice when you have a baby. My baby was born at 5 months and he weighed a pound. I was thinking about all of that every time that I went into the booth. I almost lost my son and I don't want him to go again.

And the late Bernie Mac was the voice of your husband in the movie.

I love playing his wife. There's a different vocal quality when you're looking at your husband and saying I love you and I will stand by you, but you need to stop acting stupid and get with the program. I didn't get to work with Bernie in this movie, but I worked with him on 'Guess Who.' When he was doing his sitcom, it was filmed in the basement of where I filmed 'Less Than Perfect.' Bernie would always come into my dressing room and say, 'girl you need to gain some weight, that's why you ain't got no man. Come on down here 'cause my wife made macaroni and cheese and we got some ribs.' I had always hung out with Bernie, but didn't get to work with him on this movie. Bernie is the king of improv. They would pipe his lines in and I would have to stop and ask if they were gonna let Bernie say this. They allowed me to improv alongside him so hopefully I think that chemistry came out.

How did you become involved with this film?

Ben Stiller was a fan of mine and recommended me, but that didn't mean I got the job. I'm not Angelina Jolie so recommending me and me getting it is different. I wish I was Angelina Jolie. People ask me how I pick my parts. I get an audition every now and then. Even though he was a fan, I still had to go in and audition and do the work. Thankfully, I got the job. I think it was all the snot running down my nose and the crying and emotions.

You don't seem to mind being vulnerable and showing the true you to the masses.

I think that since I've been doing stand up, I like to make people laugh to let you know that I'm not perfect and things in my life are not perfect, but I look at them and I try to make them funny. Being a Black woman and the things that we have gone through, you have to make them funny. There's a lot of pain that we've had that we had to make funny. I just get paid for doing this which I feel very blessed to do. Somebody [earlier] was saying they just found out that I went to jail. I went to jail back in 1990 and as soon as I got out of jail I got on the stage and was talking about it. I've always been open about my marriage, my husband having an affair and how I was gonna kill him, but it's helped other people. If my vulnerabilities can help other people then so be it.

Those vulnerabilities sometimes get you in trouble on 'The View.' Is it hard learning and making mistakes on live television five days a week?

I get into trouble because people don't know if I know if the earth is round or flat. My second day on 'The View' we were talking about evolution and I was so nervous. All I heard was women talking and I think I got ADD and zoned out. All I was thinking about was how did that check bounce? How did it bounce when I paid this check? Then, I heard something about round or flat and I heard, 'is the earth round or flat?' I was like, 'I don't know.' Barbara Walters was like, 'what do you mean you don't know?' All I know is that I am trying to take care of my child. She asked me what I was gonna tell him and I told her I'm gonna tell him that we're gonna go to the library. When the show ended, Barbara leaned over and said, 'dear, the earth is round.' I said, 'I know that Barbara.' I thought it was just a little brain fart. I did not know that I was the second most googled person in the country. My website shut down. Somebody sent me an email saying they would never let their 5^th grader in a class with me. I was like I don't want your 5^th grader in a class with me. I had to go on Jay Leno's show and make fun of it. I didn't know how big 'The View' is and that when you say your opinion, they take every little word that you say and magnify it. I get in trouble all the time.

Did you think Barbara Walters asking whether you believed the world was round or flat was a bad thing to do?

I didn't think the question was stupid. I was nervous. It was my second day. I do stand-up, sitcoms and movies, but I had never sat at a table with women and feel like you have to know everything you think.

People are always wondering about the dynamic between the co-hosts and Elizabeth Hasselbeck. You've been vocal about the fact that the rumors of discord are not true.

I think that when that camera turns off, we're able to go back to really having a good time because as women, there are so many other levels that we relate to. Elisabeth has a daughter that's 3 years old. I have a son that's 3 years old. Elisabeth has a family that she's very close to. I have a family that I'm very close to. We both are trying to figure out how we're gonna pay the bills every day and send our kids to college. Fundamentally, we have the same belief system. When I was flying to see my son and I was crying during every commercial break, Elisabeth is the one who said a prayer with me on the show I cried on. When the cameras turn off after we do get heated it's back to 'Elisabeth, my son threw up all on me' and she's like, 'mine did the same thing to me.' There are other things that we can relate to each other on and other levels. That's how we're able to do this every single day. You can't go on a show like that every day and get personal because you will implode as you saw happen a couple of years ago. Whoopi [Goldberg], Ms. Cool Jazz, does not allow it to get to that place. We're not gonna have drama like that.

Who has been your favorite guest on the show so far?

Bill Clinton. He is able to take everything and break it down so that the regular folk understand what he is saying. As I was listening to him, I said 'I would vote for you again if you chose to run.' I thought he was great, plus he told me that he saw 'Beauty Shop' twice.

Speaking of Bill(s), Bill Maher made some disparaging remarks about you in an interview recently.

Bill Maher said that I should be fired from 'The View.' He said that because of the whole talk about whether or not I knew if the world was round or flat that I should be let go from 'The View' because I was abusing my child by teaching him ignorance. I chose to forgive. He came on the show to promote his movie and I just chose to let Bill Maher see God in me. I think he did see it and I think at the end, he had a little more respect for me. I asked Bill, 'you always talk to everybody else about God. Have you ever talked to God?' He said I needed to go to Bellevue . I told him that if you talk to God, it'll be real deep what he'll say back to you.

Did you see his anti-organized religion movie 'Religulous?'

I saw his movie and thought there was a lot of stuff that was funny and some stuff that made me say Bill needs Jesus. Deal with him the way you dealt with Paul [in the Bible]. Do you have to blind this man so you can bring him to you and change his name? There's some folks praying for him. He don't want it, but there's folks praying for him.

Outside of 'The View' you have been guest-starring on '30 Rock.' How is it working opposite Tracy Morgan and playing his wife?

That's the thing about Tracy , he just goes there. We have a scene where we start kissing. By the time Tracy finished with this scene, he had thrown me on top of a desk a bunch of times. I was like why is my shirt on the floor? Tracy just has so much energy and he goes there so I go there and it's just a lot of fun. He is great because I've always played the best friend in everything. Either secretary or best friend; I've never played a wife or a love interest. The first time I was supposed to do the show we were just going on a date. By the time I got there, they told me I have to rip off my clothes and we're doing role playing and I had to wear a corset. I was like, 'I haven't finished my Weight Watchers. I can't put a corset on,' but Tracy saw me in my corset and was like, 'I like big girls.' I just taped my first episode for this season. I did two or three last season. In my episode, Selma Hayek was on the show. I'm very honored that Tina Fey wrote me into the show.

Tina Fey's spoof of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin on 'Saturday Night Live' was pretty amazing!

She is so amazing. She's talked more than Sarah Palin. I feel like I know more about her version of Sarah more than I know about Sarah Palin. I hope that Tina Fey will come on 'The View' to promote '30 Rock.'

Are there any other projects coming down the pike?

I am doing Lee Daniels' new movie called 'Push.' It's with Mo'Nique, Lenny Kravitz and Paula Patton. That was really nice because Lee Daniels really challenged me. He said to me, 'everybody knows you Sherri because you walk in the room with your boobs out, you're proud and they know you for your jokes and your smile, but I don't want any of that.' He took me to a very deep and dark place. I play Cornrows, who is a receptionist at the alternative school that the character Precious attends. He took me to some really deep places in that movie so I'm looking forward to that.

It has been quite an impressive year for you, huh?

I'm still trying. I feel like this is a dream. I'm very thankful for what I have and I'll take it for as long as I can ride it. I still know how to type 100 words a minute.

*****

'Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa' also stars Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, Cedric The Entertainer, David Schwimmer and Sasha Baron Cohen. The movie opens in theaters on Nov. 7.