Melissa McCarthy "wormed her way in" to her new film 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?'

Melissa McCarthy

Melissa McCarthy

The 48-year-old actress usually opts for comedy roles but wanted to take a part in the new biopic after her husband Ben Falcone was cast in the movie.

She said: "He was cast first, and then I wormed my way in. That's what he gets for showing me the script! ... I felt a little disappointed in myself that I didn't know who she was. I lived in New York during this time period, and I thought, 'I should have known her.' Then to find out the FBI got involved and she was convicted ... I was like, 'Why don't I know the story?'"

Melissa plays real-life author Lee Israel. In a bid to prop up her failing writing career, she forged letters from famous artists to make money and was later caught out and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen property, serving six months under house arrest.

Speaking about being able to show off her dramatic skills, she added to Good Morning America: "It was fantastic. I know that it is tonally something that I'm not really known for.. but for me it's like, I still fall in love with the character, I fall in love with the story. The process for me in playing Lee Israel was just finding all her little quirks and ticks, of which there were many - she is not an easy person by any stretch, but I still became really enamoured with her early on, and it was really fun to play."

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