Melissa McCarthy: “Believe it or not, I have limits”
The actress provides the show in Spy, tonight on TF1.
spy will be back on TV tonight. When it was released in 2015, this action comedy carried by Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham And Jude Lawhad fun First. We then met its main actress
Interview of June 17, 2015: Heavy, “not fine”sometimes vulgar… Melissa McCarthy is uniquely American, one of those subcultural aberrations that you look askance at and wonder how it works. But the intrepid secretary character she creates in spy should propel it beyond the heights of the US box office, and perhaps even (who knows?) into the hearts of the French public. Meeting with a fat lady of comedy.
Excessive, delirious and irresistible, Spy is a real Melissa McCarthy Show (review)
spyin which you submit to physical gags of a very “gore” genre, marks your third collaboration in a row with Paul Feig. Already an old comedy couple: we feel that you wouldn’t do that for anyone… It’s true. The only other person who gives me so much security on set is my husband, Ben Falcone (under whose direction she shot two films, ndr). With them, I like to explore my limits. If a gag seems a little too much, we film it anyway! And if he finally bothers one of us, we don’t use him in the editing… But I also sometimes say no. ‘Cause yes, believe it or not, I have limits (laughs). In these cases, Paul tries to appease me, in his very charming way: “Ooooh, Mel, are you sure you don’t want that cucumber up your skirt?” Come on…”. But I hold on… Usually to protect the integrity of the character. Susan Cooper, my character in spy, is not stupid. There are some things she wouldn’t do.
You became a star in the United States by lifting your leg in an airplane aisle, sucking in all the oxygen from My best friends. Your improvisational talent has become a valuable commodity in the industry. The best improv is the one that sticks scrupulously to the script. I change three times nothing: a word here, a sentence there, to preserve freshness, spontaneity. And to take my partner by surprise, destabilize him. The essence of comedy is surprise. If you manage to keep the viewer on their toes from one second to the next, then you’ve won…
Paul Feig: “I didn’t want to subvert Ghostbusters, I wanted to subvert Hollywood”
Because it plays the spy movie game without being a parody, spy takes fewer detours than your previous films. It looks less “improvised”. It’s only an impression, I’m afraid. There is so much improvisation in spy that in The Heat And My best friends. But I take it as a compliment! Maybe that means we did our job well.
You are successively mated with Jason Statham, Jude Law, Rose Byrne, Miranda Hart… spy is what happens when Melissa McCarthy shoots a buddy-movie: you end up making four. Ahh, yes! I kept thanking Paul on set: ‘Do you realize, we’re doing Midnight Run, Unbelievable luck (Bette Midler And Shelley Long1987) and Un ticket pour deux… in the same film!’. We thought we had something the day we saw a first end-to-end of my scenes with Jason, Jude and Rose… Something that goes beyond the simple chemistry between the actors. Susan Cooper walked with everyone! She’s fun, we want her to get away with it. It’s a beautiful gift from Paul, this character.
Moving, trashy and very, very funny, My Best Friends is a wonderful series focused on two hours (review)
She could become a cult comedy figure… We try not to proclaim it too loudly for the moment because obviously, the public will be the only judge. But that’s what we think too.
Do you have the power of life or death over films? What you want, do you get it? Not really, no. The process is long and tedious. I have a little power, but without a solid script and cast in place, you’re just another producer at war with a huge, indomitable machine. It’s difficult. And it’s even harder to finally get to the movie you originally had in mind. The fight goes on. We’ll see.
Are you proud of that one? Very. We come out with a good feeling. Like these films we were talking about, precisely: MidnightRun, An unbelievable chance… I have the impression that people will be happy to have paid for the babysitter, paid for their entrance ticket, happy to see that they don’t pull the face when leaving the room. I hope…
I would like to suggest Russell Crowe for Spy 2… Ouuuh! Good idea. Have you spoken to Feig about it? You have to talk to Feig about it…
You don’t sleep with anyone spy. Susan becomes a field agent, she becomes one of those guys. She should spend her time fucking the whole cast… We wanted to put her in situations where she has to seduce other spies, but it didn’t work in the script. We have a few concepts in mind for the future. If Susan returns, it will be as a seasoned spy, therefore a nymphomaniac by profession. It will have to be brutal, maybe even a little gory. Russell Crowe, it’s really not bad…
Benjamin Rozovas interview
