COVER: MELISSA McCARTHY
The words ‘why not?’ feature strongly in her vocabulary. Discover why comedy genius Melissa McCarthy refuses to play it safe – and why she is so much more than the role that made her famous.
Why the Oscar-nominated comedienne refuses to play it safe
Her characters are resolutely antiglamour and invariably a bit manic. Her attitude to real life is sparky, off-the-wall and infectious. Now, after punching numerous people in the throat (Identity Thief) careening around after other-worldy beings (Ghostbusters) and liberating her inner sleuth (Spy), Melissa McCarthy commands the screen in Life of the Party, with a hilarious portrayal of a 40-something divorcee who returns to college with her daughter.
‘I really like the idea of showing somebody challenging herself and reinventing herself at my age,’ the Oscarnominated comedienne explains. ‘Because why not?!’
Loveable Deanna is the result of another successful team effort with her director husband, writing partner, co-parent and occasional co-actor, Ben Falcone. And the hysterical connections that made the couple so funny to watch in
‘I really like the idea of showing somebody challenging herself and reinventing herself at my age.’
‘She’s the first person I want to tell any idea to,’ Ben says of his wife of 13 years. She’s a livewire; what she’s seeing, she’s reacting to. What she’s hearing, she’s reacting to.’
Bridesmaids, The Heat, Spy and Tammy (Ben played cameo roles in all of them) seems to leak from their warm off-screen relationship.
‘She’s the first person I want to tell any idea to,’ Ben says of his wife of 13 years. She’s a livewire; what she’s seeing, she’s reacting to. What she’s hearing, she’s reacting to. That’s what makes her an amazing actress. She’s really honest, really positive and she’s so talented and funny… She’s my muse.’
The pair met and worked together at The Groundlings, the famous LA improv school that unleashed the likes of Will Ferrell and Lisa Kudrow on the world.
‘We met putting on terrible wigs and doing really hideous characters,’ Melissa says. ‘I thought: if we actually liked each other and wanted to date after seeing each other do these characters, there’s got to be something there.’
Fast-forward almost 20 years, and the couple is thriving in their Hollywood partnership. In fact, they’re the most successful husband-and-wife comedy team in the business.
‘She’s very chatty,’ Ben confides. ‘I get nervous whenever she stops talking, because I think there has to be something wrong!’
Though Melissa’s take is a little different – ‘I find Ben does a very peculiar thing when we’re in a hurry… if we’re running late, Ben turns into this ice-cold molasses turtle’ – there is a genuine affection that spills into their faultless comic delivery on screen.
And invariably, it’s here that Melissa specialises in acing the scenes we’re unaccustomed to from female stars.
‘People say to me, “These characters are crazy,” and I’m like, “Are they?” Because I’ve seen these people in drugstores,’ she says.
‘I think when a female character acts more defiant, it’s seen as a little more crazy. There are women in the world like this, we’re just not used to seeing them portrayed. We generally just see The Pleasant Lady who stands behind her husband going: “Oh, Jack.” But I really love a female character who is not playing by the rules.
‘For me, it’s the joy of acting,’ Melissa explains. ‘If someone said, “The part is very similar to you and you’ll look like yourself and basically behave like you,” I think I’d short-circuit. Let me play someone else with their tics and their quirks – that’s part of the joy.’
Later this year we’ll see her turning her talents to something entirely different. Can You Ever
Forgive Me? is based on the real-life story of the cat-loving, bestselling celebrity biographer Lee Israel. When Lee was no longer able to get published, she turned her research talents to deception, helped by her loyal friend Jack. In fact, she successfully conned collectors for more than two years by forging over 400 signed letters, ostensibly from literary giants like Dorothy Parker, Noel Coward and others.
The hard-working star is also starting production on The Kitchen, a classic gangster story that follows
the wives of jailed Irish mobsters who take over an organised crime ring in 1970s Hell’s Kitchen, becoming the most powerful, ruthless gangsters on Manhattan’s West Side.
But Melissa McCarthy isn’t all about acting. She is also a devoted mom to her daughters Vivian (11) and Georgette (8). During a recent interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Melissa revealed that her oldest daughter’s love for pretty things makes her particularly proud. ‘It must be what a Texas dad feels like when his boy plays quarterback,’ she joked to the audience, adding that while Georgette is more interested in makeup, Vivian has a keen eye for décor.
‘Ben walked in and Viv and I were trying out a new bedspread I got, and Viv’s like – thoughtfully – “I just think it might compete with the headboard”,’ Melissa recalls. ‘And I literally got weird… I got goosebumps. Ben just turned around and went, “Oh my God, I can’t have two of you”.’
Interestingly, the two young girls have already made their big-screen debuts. In The Boss, Melissa played Michelle Darnell, a Martha Stewart-like tycoon who loses her fortune after being sent to prison for insider trading and is then forced to move in with her former assistant and plot her comeback. Vivian played McCarthy’s character at seven years old and Georgette appeared as one of the young girls working at Michelle’s new company.
This doesn’t necessarily mean the couple wants their daughters to follow in their footsteps.
‘They kept asking and we said no for months and [then] my oldest said, “Am I not allowed to even try?”’ Melissa explained to E!News at the time. ‘She’s very smart, and I said, “That’s good you went right to it because I certainly can’t say you’re not allowed to try.” So we spent the next month watching if she’d really do it. She did great.’
And once Georgette heard that her sister was going to be in the movie, she made it clear she wasn’t going to be left out. ‘If she’s doing it, I’m doing it!’ she exclaimed.
‘[Georgie] is a force of nature,’ Melissa told Ellen DeGeneres. ‘She will rule the world or destroy it – there will be no grey areas.’) Both parents insist that The
Boss wasn’t the start of something bigger for the kids.
‘We said, “You can do it again – right after college,” says Melissa. And the two girls haven’t asked for more work – at least not yet.
‘We’ll see what happens,’ Ben said. ‘I’m not going to discourage it, but I’m also not going to encourage it.’