Melissa McCarthy is married to actor-director Ben Falcone, with whom she’s bringing up two daughters in Los Angeles. Catching up with MiNDFOOD, the ‘Bridesmaids’ star chats about forgiveness, her love for bookstores, and her admiration for Gloria Steinem.
Comedienne Melissa McCarthy, 48, changes gears in the biographical drama, Can You Ever Forgive Me? In the lead role, she plays Lee Israel, a writer trying to keep afloat despite her failing career by forging letters from deceased authors and playwrights.
Have you ever had to say to someone, ‘Can you ever forgive me?’
Oh my God, yes. Daily. Oh yeah!
How do you overcome those moments?
I don’t think I could overcome it. I think it’s part of the things I like about Lee and maybe the title of it, I think there’s great humility and power in actually saying, “Can someone forgive me?” I think we all screw up constantly. I do, at least. I’m constantly apologising to someone. I think that’s the norm and then you just try to do better, but I think when you truly ask someone to forgive you, that you know you screwed up, I think there’s great strength in that.
How much did you know about Lee Israel?
I didn’t know Lee’s real story, and I think I felt a little disappointed in myself that I didn’t. I was in New York during those years, from ‘90 to ‘97, and I just thought, ‘Did I pass her in the street? Were we at the same places?’
What really drew me to the story was how fascinating she was and what a talented writer she was and then suddenly being told, ‘We phased you out’, which I think is something that in any field, you can relate to when someone is saying, ‘You were good at it, but now we think you’re done.’ And they weren’t saying what she did wasn’t good enough but they were saying, ‘We’re anticipating what you will do will not be good enough,’ which I think is even more damaging.
The world came to know you in comedies – how different is it now to show vulnerability, anger, sadness, fear?
For me, I don’t register comedy and drama differently. I think I always start with the story and the character. And if the story makes sense to me, and I do tend to love a character that is terribly flawed, I think there’s so much more to play. It’s so much more interesting to play someone who is constantly their worst enemy and I think it’s very human. One of the most vulnerable things a person can do is kind of make a fool of themselves, and I think with Lee, she was unapologetically herself. And I think she did not have a sensor. I kind of love that she didn’t.
If you could write a biography on someone, who would it be?
Oh my God. I have a great love and admiration for Gloria Steinem. I just think it’s somebody who’s worked their entire lives at making other people’s lives better and somehow she’s done it with great humour. She’s absolutely hilarious, which is not what I expected when I met her. I think she’s remarkable.
Have you spent much time in bookstores? What do you like about them?
Everything about a bookstore or a library, I love. I’ve spent probably a weird amount of hours (laughs) in bookstores. I still love a book. I want to hold it, I’ve gotten to where I will put a few on my iPad if I’m travelling, but it’s hard. I still want to turn the page, I want a book marker, I want to put the jacket in, I like the smell of them.
You drink a lot of Scotch in the movie – what’s your drink in real life?
I drink scotch but I put it on the rocks. Not neat, I’m not a neat gal. Some days at the end of the day, I was like, “I have to go get a real drink. I’ve been drinking ice tea all day.’ So, yeah. I enjoy a scotch.
How is your clothing line going? There seems to be more women these days who are not only anorexic models representing brands. Do you think it’s changing?
My clothing line is down for the moment. I’m still making clothes, I make them for myself and my friends and stuff but I’m looking for a new venue just to go to, so I’m still trying to find that partnership because it’s a close-knit one that you’ll have for a long time. And I hope the perception is changing, slowly but surely, I think what we look at should reflect the world that we are.
You work a lot with your husband (Ben Falcone)
Yes, I do!
What happens when you spend time apart?
We try not to be. We have two young girls and I happen to like my husband a lot. I married him to be with him and vice versa so we try, we have a two-week rule that we try to only do twice a year if necessary. And we don’t like to go longer than that.
