FILTHY FUN
McCarthy gets rude and crude with puppets
When Melissa McCarthy was pitched The Happytime Murders, a crude, adult-themed puppet comedy from Brian Henson (Jim’s son), she reacted as anyone else would.
“I was curious,” the 48-year-old Oscar-nominated actress says with a chuckle down the line from Atlanta.
“How it was pitched to me was, puppets are living amongst us and the story takes place in the gritty underbelly of L.A. Puppets are the second-class citizens and you and your partner have to solve a string of murders.”
Scripted by Todd Berger, Happytime Murders (now playing in theatres) is an edgy comedy that was promoted as “No Sesame, all Street,” a tag line that led to a lawsuit by the Sesame Workshop (it was dismissed).
The film follows Det. Connie Edwards (McCarthy) teaming up with her former partner Phil Philips (puppeteer Bill Barretta) — the first and last puppet cop in L.A. — to solve a string of murders targeting the stars of an old puppet sitcom, The Happytime Gang. On the surface, the puppets may seem familiar, but in a movie that features puppet murder, puppet porn, puppet sex, puppet drugs and, ahem, puppet ejaculate, these definitely aren’t like the Muppets you might have grown up with.
“I would never let my kids watch this,” she says. “It’s a cop movie and a puppet movie that we’re smushing together, but it’s for grown-ups. This is definitely not a children’s movie.”
Q How did you react when Brian Henson came to you with the idea of doing an R-rated puppet murder mystery?
A I love cop movies. I love the relationship between partners; even partners who are on the outs, like Phil and I are ... It’s just such a great place to jump off and tell a story — comedy or drama — and in this case, a comedy with puppets.
Q For people who grew up on the Muppets, seeing a movie like this seems logical. Did it seem that way for you too?
A I think so. For me it wasn’t about them swearing. I love playing with reality and taking something that might happen in the real world and just bending it a bit. I love that.
Q And right now you’re filming Super Intelligence. What can you tell us about that?
A It’s fantastic. We’re just toward the end of shooting, which is always really bittersweet. I keep calling it an apocalyptic love story. An A.I. takes over and it judges whether humanity is worth saving or not based on my character. In the end, love wins. It’s just great. It’s been a dream movie to make.
Q And you’re also going to be teaming up with Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss for The Kitchen. What can we expect from that collaboration?
A I’m so excited to see how that one turns out. It takes place in 1970s Hell’s Kitchen and it’s the story of three wives of gangsters who are imprisoned and we take over the Irish Mob and we end up being more brutal and more violent and more successful than our husbands ever were. It’s a brutal movie, but it’s definitely amazing.
Q So wait, it’s not a comedy? A Oh no, it’s not a comedy at all. It’s a gangster movie, it’s violent and it’s ... a straight drama.
Q Do you miss playing (former White House press secretary) Sean Spicer on SNL?
A No, I do not miss him. I miss going to SNL and seeing my friends, but no I do not miss him. I think I’ve had my fill of Spicer. But he certainly was fun to play.