We are unashamedly pretty big fans of Melissa McCarthy‘s work around these parts, which makes us simultaneously angry that the following exchange needed to take place at all, but happy that the Bridesmaids star completely owned it.
During a recent Entertainment Weekly interview, McCarthy said that, while attending last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, she took the opportunity to confront a critic who had singled her appearance out for criticism in a review of Tammy.
The critic had approached her to offer praise for her work alongside Bill Murray in St Vincent, but when she recognised him, she wasn’t about to let his previous words go by.
“Are you the one who wrote I was only a good actor when I looked more attractive and that my husband should never be allowed to direct me because he allowed me to look so homely?” she asked.
When he admitted as much, she then asked: “Would you say that to any guy? When John C. Reilly – or any actor – is playing a character that is depressed and dejected, would you say, ‘well, you look terrible!’?”
When she found out the writer had a daughter, she added: “Watch what you say to her. Do you tell her she’s only worthwhile or valid when she’s pretty?”
Reflecting later on the situation, she said:
“It’s an intense sickness. For someone who has two daughters, I’m wildly aware of how deep that rabbit hole goes. But I just don’t want to start listening to that stuff. I’m trying to take away the double standard of ‘You’re an unattractive bitch because your character was not skipping along in high heels.’”
You feel that steam heat? That’s coming from Melissa McCarthy’s sense of righteous indignation. Spy, co-starring McCarthy and Rose Byrne, is out Thursday May 21 in Australia.
via Time
Photo: Michael Buckner via Getty Images
