Yahoo News 10 of the best Melissa McCarthy films
Melissa McCarthy is one of Hollywood's best-loved comedians, having been on screens for over 20 years.
She appeared as Sookie St James in Gilmore Girls for seven years until 2007, but it was the runaway success of Bridesmaids in 2011 that propelled Melissa to the big time, and a long line of comedy roles in big-budget movies followed. In 2018, she swapped comedy for serious drama in the biopic Can You Ever Forgive Me?, for which she was Oscar nominated.
Melissa, 49, is married to actor and writer Ben Falcone, who she's collaborated with on several films. The couple has two daughters, Vivian, 12, and Georgette, nine.
Here, we take a look at some of her best films:
Bridesmaids
As the stand-out, scene-stealing star of this truly excellent comedy, Melissa cemented herself as the funniest woman in Hollywood - and beyond - in her role as the sensible shoe-wearing sexual beast Megan. Quite rightly, she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for the part.
Identity Thief
Melissa plays con artist Diana, who steals the identity of an accountant (Jason Bateman) and wreaks havoc - with Sandy on her trail to try and rectify the situation... but wrangling Diana isn't as easy as first thought.
The Heat
Uptight and work-obsessed FBI agent Sarah Ashburn (played by the superb Sandra Bullock) finds herself in Boston on the trail of a drug lord who's evading capture. She's paired with local detective Shannon Mullins (McCarthy) who, predictably, is her absolute opposite, and the two cops try and bring the criminal to justice.
Tammy
Melissa and her husband Ben worked on this together - he directing, and them both co-writing the film. Mel plays Tammy Banks, a worker in a fast food restaurant who finds her husband cheating, and goes on an eventful road trip. Susan Sarandon is her sidekick, playing Tammy's hard-drinking grandmother Pearl, who comes along for the ride.
St Vincent
Melissa plays the neighbour of grumpy Vietnam War veteran Vincent MacKenna (Bill Murray) in this comedy drama. Maggie Bronstein is a single mum bringing up her son Oliver, and the trio strike up an unlikely friendship.
Spy
Melissa teamed up again with Bridesmaids director Paul Feig for Spy, along with a star studded cast which includes Jude Law, Bridesmaids co-star Rose Byrne and Jason Statham. She plays an enthusiastic but desk based CIA employee who controls/advises field agent Bradley Fine (Jude Law). He gets killed so she persuades her boss to let her go out in the field, with hilarious results.
The Boss
Another Ben and Melissa special, this comedy follows the story of a wealthy and powerful businesswoman (with iconic hair) who ends up in jail after some dodgy financial dealings - not to mention her general nastiness to everyone around her. She tries to reinvent herself as a do-gooder bake sale queen when she comes out of jail... but she finds it's not as easy as it looks. Kristen Bell (The Good Place) stars as her browbeaten former assistant.
Life of the Party
About to become an empty nester when her daughter goes to college, Deanne (McCarthy)'s life is thrown into disarray when her husband announces he wants a divorce. Deanne throws herself onto her new path ahead - which sees her going back to college... in the same class as her daughter. It's the third film directed by Melissa's husband Ben, and written by them both.
The Happytime Murders
Set in a world where puppets and people co-exist, Melissa plays another detective, but this time she's paired with a puppet who used to be a police officer. They've joined forces to solve a murder spree of beloved puppet sitcom stars. It's utterly ridiculous and is really quite rude in places, but Melissa truly saves the day (or at least the whole 91 minutes of the film).
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
In her first non-comedic part, Melissa transformed herself for the role of Lee Israel, a once popular writer who - after her career dries up - begins forging letters from dead playwrights and authors for financial gain. It's based on a true story, and the part landed Melissa an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
The Kitchen
This crime thriller, set in New York in the late 70s, follows a trio of mob wives who take matters into their own hands when their husbands go to prison. Melissa stars alongside Elisabeth Moss and Tiffany Haddish, and the group end up running the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood - it's cut throat out there, but the women give as good as they get.
Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.
You Might Also Like
