Melissa McCarthy: Life of the Party and 5 of her other best movie appearances

16 September 2018

Melissa McCarthy’s acting career spans over 21 years, starting with the popular television series Gilmore Girls (2000-2007) and supporting movie roles in Charlie's Angels (2000). Now, McCarthy is the main attraction with many blockbusters under her belt and is considered one of the funniest actresses of this generation. Her most recent hit, Life of the Party released in cinemas earlier this year with McCarthy bringing it on-screen as a divorced mum who enrolls in university with her daughter. The mother-daughter duo embrace college life, working hard and partying hard on their journey to self-discovery.

Melissa McCarthy in Life of the Party

To celebrate the release of Life of the Party on DVD tomorrow (September 17), we’re looking at some of McCarthy’s other most iconic comedic roles.

Spy (2015)

Desk-bound CIA analyst Susan Cooper (Melissa McCarthy) gets to go on her first undercover assignment to capture a deadly arms dealer Rayna Boyanov (Rose Bryne) who murdered Cooper’s working partner Bradley (Jude Law). She must go deep undercover in order to avenge her colleague and prevent a global crisis. Paul Feig cast Melissa in this ‘knock-off’ Bond movie as be believes she can play the “every person” and is able to incite empathy and support from audiences.

Identity Thief (2013)

Sandy Patterson (Jason Bateman) discovers that someone has stolen his identity and is running up a massive credit card debt. In order to clear his name and save his shattered credit rating, Sandy goes to track down the thief (Melissa McCarthy) and bring them to justice, but Sandy isn’t the only one trying to track her down. Melissa’s role in Identity Thief was originally written for a male, but co-star Jason liked Melissa so much in her previous film Bridesmaids that he insisted that the part be changed.

The Heat (2013)

Uptight FBI agent Sarah Ashburn (Sandra Bullock) has closed more cases than anyone in the FBI and is eager for a promotion but she doesn’t get along with any of her co-workers. She is sent to Boston to work alongside a foul-mouthed cop Shannon Mullins (Melissa McCarthy) to go uncover and take down a ruthless drug lord. The pair, who are opposites, inevitably clash and struggle at first to make any progress. However, once they learn to get along and work to each other’s strengths the two ended up becoming good friends. The Heat became the 15th highest grossing film of 2013.

This Is 40 (2012)

As they approach the age of 40, Pete (Paul Rudd) and his wife Debbie (Leslie Mann) struggle to keep their marriage together as their businesses are failing, their children are always fighting, and they are on the verge of losing their house. The couple must fight hard to keep their lives and their marriage from falling apart. McCarthy plays a supporting role in This is 40, as the mother of a child at the school who has been picking on Pete and Debbie’s daughter. They have a heated argument and get called to the principal’s office. McCarthy is also featured heavily in the bloopers at the end of the movie.

Bridesmaids (2011)

Annie Walker (Kristen Wiig) is a thirty-something single woman whose life is a gigantic mess but when her lifelong best friend Lilian (Maya Rudolph) gets engaged, she has no choice but to step up to the role of maid of honour. Annie plans a hen do to Las Vegas for Lilian and the other bridesmaids which soon goes out of control. Melissa plays one of the bridesmaids Megan, who is the groom’s extremely unfiltered sister. McCarthy received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her hilarious role of Megan.