How About Brett Ratner Just Makes Beverly Hills Witch and Calls it Even?

We established long ago, well before Tower Heist was greenlit, that sorting out the many irons in Brett Ratner’s directorial fire is something of a fool’s errand. New projects seem to come and go from the filmmaker’s slate every day, with a few priority projects like Beverly Hills Cop IV hang on for dear life (their stars’ disinterest notwithstanding). And now you can add another “dream project” to the list. Per the NYT: Though he is committed to the Oscars and next plans to direct The 39 Clues, which [Jeff] Nathanson is adapting from the popular Scholastic adventure-book series, Mr. Ratner was busily conjuring up other future endeavors, including what he called his “dream project”: a film version of the Broadway musical Wicked. In response, perhaps, to the cocked brow of a reporter sitting opposite him, Mr. Ratner made the passionate case that he was ready to take on films that no one expected from him. “People who played it safe, they weren’t really going anywhere,” he said. “They did the same thing over and over again. I’ve always challenged myself, and whether I failed or not, I didn’t fail in my mind. I went through the experience, and it prepared me for the next time I’m going to do it.” Listen, I don’t experience the same kneejerk sourness a lot of people seem to suffer upon hearing or reading Brett Ratner’s name. The guy’s nice, he works hard, he’s ambitious, he’s enthusiastic, he employs people, and I really couldn’t care less how his X-Men movie stands up to those of Bryan Singer. I’d just like to offer a modest proposal for Ratner to not only scale down a bit, but actually combine his latest “dream project” with the old one — Beverly Hills Cop IV — to make something original and new: Beverly Hills Witch. This would basically take two exhausted concepts that nobody really wants onscreen and roll them into the perfect PG-13 starring vehicle for a Reese Witherspoon or Sandra Bullock, while leaving the barely breathing legacy of Eddie Murphy’s trilogy of diminishing returns and the stagebound grace of the hit Wizard of Oz spinoff to maintain their own finite cultural niches. There is more money and more audience and maybe even more franchise reckoning to be wrung from the tale of a upper-crust glambot who, upon mistreating a lowly Jamba Juice employee who secretly happens to be training for wizardry, is served one of the young conjurer’s experimental Hex smoothies. She and her appalled family soon find her developing warts that no cosmetic procedure can cure, and demonstrating class-contorting powers that not even the highest-society movers and shakers can withstand. Shunned by her status-conscious husband, her smug teenagers and an insufferable social circle, the woman reconnects with the young smoothie wizard for an antidote, only for both of them to find their powers are unbeatable when paired for good. It’s basically a recession-era morality tale with some sweet visual-effects opportunities and the chance for an A-list leading lady to showcase some comic chops in a possible franchise launch. And it avoids having to pretend patronizingly that there’s a market for the rehashes Ratner has in mind. Move on, son! Anyway, your mileage may vary! Other plot suggestions are more than welcome. Just make it worthy of Brett Ratner’s “dream project,” and you’re in! · Forget the Art House; He’s Making Blockbusters [NYT] Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

Power of Comedy to honor Poehler

PoehlerAmy Poehler will receive the 2011 Power of Comedy award at Variety's second annual Power of Comedy confab Nov. 19. Peformers and presenters for the event, taking place at the Hollywood Palladium, include Will Ferrell, Sarah Silverman, Nick Kroll, Casey Wilson, the Upright Citizens Brigade, Million Dollar Strong and the Dan Band.The evening of stand-up and sketch perf will again benefit the Noreen Fraser Foundation, which focuses on prevention and treatment of women's cancer.Poehler, a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy troupe, "Saturday Night Live" alum and star of NBC's "Parks and Recreation," will be presented the award by fellow "SNL" vet Ferrell."Last year's event was an incredible success, raising a quarter of a million dollars for women's cancer research, and we're excited to once again gather some of our industry's finest comedians to honor the very funny Amy Poehler and surpass that goal," said Michelle Sobrino, associate publisher of Variety. Some 1,500 guests, encompassing Hollywood VIPs and comedy fans, are expected to attend. Event is presented by Electronic Arts' "Sims 3" vidgame. Supporting partners include Skype.Ticket prices range from $55-$350; VIP packages range from $5,000 to $15,000. Go to Variety.com/poc or call Lauran at 310-201-5033 for tix. Contact Variety Staff at news@variety.com

Grey's Anatomy Exclusive: True Blood stream Star Signs on as Alex's Competition

Grey's Anatomy's Alex will involve some competition. True Blood's Vedette Lim has signed on as Dr. Polly Preston, who reaches Dallas Sophistication getting a young child fellowship, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively. Arizona (Jessica Capshaw) will need a liking to Polly, a great deal to make sure that she'll boot Alex (Justin Chambers) from her cases. Become popular cases of Grey's Anatomy by reading through through our recaps Lim, who referred to Tara's lesbian lover round the fourth season in the Cinemax series, will first are available in Episode 8. Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9/8c on ABC.

Sean Bean Teases 'Game Of Thrones' Flashbacks

[Editor's Note: you will discover some large spoilers ahead for your first season of "Wager on Thrones." Proceed in the own risk in the event you haven't seen the series yet -- but, exactly what are you waiting for? Watch it already, it's awesome! -JW] Sean Bean has the capacity to mind towards the number of "Wager on Thrones," without or together with his mind. His character Ned Stark got an very tragic send-off in last season's penultimate episode, "Baelor." But due to author George R.R. Martin's non-linear storytelling, there might be some room for Bean to appear around the enter in flashbacks through the approaching season. MTV News taken track of him round the red-colored-colored carpet for your Spike Scream Honours, which he recognized he wouldn't be averse for the idea. "In my opinion there's inside the books," mentioned Bean of the potential for flashbacks. "You will discover apparently some flashbacks, and it is good to find out everybody again and be involved." Bean shared that he's however reading through through "A Clash of Nobleman," the second book in Martin's "A Sound Lesson of Ice and Fire" series, and for that reason doesn't know how Ned suits the comfort in the saga's story. (Spoiler: You will discover some pretty important Ned flashbacks completely up with the latest novel, "A Dance with Dragons.") But even lacking the knowledge of whether Ned remains relevant in Westeros or else, Bean thinks there's an opportunity they're headed to create. "They type of removed me. I'd my thoughts chopped off. But when you're able to to come back from that, you'll be able to return from everything, can't you," Bean joked. Maybe he and Jason Momoa could have a tea party to organize their triumphant returns to "Wager on Thrones." Would you like to see Sean Bean return for later looks in "Wager on Thrones"? Inform us inside the comments section below or on Twitter!

EXCLUSIVE: First Photo of Ridley Scott's 'Labyrinth' Miniseries

our editor recommendsGame of Thrones' Emun Elliott, John Hurt to Star in Labyrinth MiniseriesMIPCOM to explore 'Pillars of the Earth'Germany's Tandem Communications and Ridley and Tony Scott's Scott Free have released the first cast photo from their upcoming miniseries Labyrinth. Tandem and Scott Free are the team behind the multi-Emmy nominated The Pillars of the Earth The grip-and-grin shot shows Oscar-winner John Hurt alongside executive producers Ridley Scott and Tandem's Tim Halkin, together with Kate Mosse, author of the best-selling thriller on which the 4-hour miniseries is based. Mosse's tale is an adventures story set in modern and medieval France which centres on two women's search for the holy grail. Delivery is set for late summer 2012. Germany's Sat.1, Channel Four in the U.K., France's M6, Spain's Quatro and ORF in Austria have pre-bought the show. NBC Universal Home Entertainment and Koch Media have certain U.S. home entertainment rights. So far, there is no U.S. broadcaster attached to the series. Other talent on location at the Labyrinth set in the Carcassonne countryside in the south of France includes director Christopher Smith; actress Vanessa Kirby, who plays Alice Tanner; Captain America's Sebastian Stan, who plays Will and Jessica Brown-Findlay of Downton Abbey who plays Alais Pelletier du Mas. Among the behind-the-scenes talent squeezing into the shot is screenwriter Adrian Hodges, casting director Priscilla John, Sat.1 television executive Thomas von Hennet, executive producer Liza Marshall and producer Moritz Polter. Also on the Labyrinth cast, though not in the photo, are Harry Potter alumnus Tom Felton, Game of Thrones actor Emun Elliott and Merlin actress Katie McGrath. Related Topics John Hurt Tom Felton International Tony Scott Ridley Scott

Suit: Hangover II Stole Grooms Story

The Hangover Part II is beginning to look as being a suit magnet. The newest suit was filed the other day in federal court in La according to Entertainment Weekly. It alleges that filmmakers was similar to a script that ambitious scribe Michael Alan Rubin based by themself marital misadventures in Asia. Complaintant Rubin claims The Hangover II is duplicated within the treatment too as with the actual existence incident in the Complaintant, because the protagonist … travels within the United states . States to have an Asian country to marry his Asian girlfriend. How did they get his script, you might question? Rubin claims his ex-wife gave the filmmakers his story, and additionally accuses them of defaming him with explanations of Erection dysfunction Helms’ character’s drug-fueled antics including sex getting a transsexual prostitute. Rubin is representing themselves. An early on suit filed with the tattoo artist who designed a variety of it designing Mike Tyson was settled, and also the other filed having a stunt guy hurt through the building from the film is pending.

Which Lostie Will Take His Revenge on ABC?

Hiroyuki Sanada Hiroyuki Sanada, who appeared in the final season of Lost, has booked a recurring role on ABC's Revenge, Entertainment Weekly reports. Sanada, who portrayed one of the Others, Dogen, will play Kioshi Takeda, a Japanese businessman with ties to Emily Thorne (Emily Van Camp). Also known for his starring role in The Last Samurai opposite Tom Cruise and Ken Watanabe, the actor will first appear in Episode 9. ABC orders more Happy Endings scripts; Revenge, Suburgatory get full seasons Executive-produced by Mike Kelley, the contemporary take on The Count of Monte Cristo debuted to 10.15 million viewers. Its latest outing on Wednesday drew 7.9 million viewers, prompting ABC to pick up the freshman series for a full season. Revenge airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on ABC.

'Top Gun 2' Can get Screenwriters

Perfect news for just about any Friday when remakes of 'Footloose' and 'The Thing' are unspooling in the local multiplex: Variety looks at the follow-up for 'Top Gun' you don't always want finds two screenwriters. Ashley Burns and Zack Stentz, a few the six credited authors on 'X-Males: Top Quality,A will handle scripting duties for 'Top Gun 2,' which Jerry Bruckheimer and David Ellison are coming up with. Unsure yet whether Tony Scott and Tom Cruise will participate in the follow-up, but without or together, it seems like Vital is keep using the project. The first 'Top Gun' made over $350 million worldwide if the was released in May of 1986. [via Variety] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

CineEurope heads to Barcelona

BERLIN -- CineEurope, Europe's leading theatrical exhibitor trade fair, is moving from Amsterdam to Barcelona the coming year. Formerly referred to as Cinema Expo, CineEurope 2012 will occur June 18-21 at El Centro p Convenciones Internacional p Barcelona within the city's Diagonal Marly area. The Worldwide Union of Movie theaters (UNIC) confab continues to be locked in Amsterdam within the last fifteen years. "The proceed to Barcelona signifies CineEurope's dedication to higher serving the ecu cinema exhibition and distribution towns," stated CineEurope controlling director Robert Sunshine. "CineEurope management and UNIC consulted with ingredients and also the overwhelming feedback received was that the proceed to The country will be a advantageous change." Contact Erectile dysfunction Meza at staff@variety.com

Jennifer Aniston and Demi Moore Bring Awareness to Cancer Of The Breast in Lives FIVE

Jeanne Tripplehorn and Patricia Clarkson For Jeanne Tripplehorn, her role in FIVE offered like a indication. "A couple of several weeks ago I acquired a telephone call stating that Jennifer [Aniston] and Marta [Kauffman, co-creator of Buddies] used to do the project and that i immediately stated yes," states Tripplehorn. "Whenever we began filming, I recognized which i had not were built with a mammogram in 2 years. And So I rushed to acquire one immediately. My wish is the fact that when individuals check this out film, it'll help remind these to perform the same." Doing its part for Cancer Of The Breast Awareness Month, Lifetime is giving us FIVE (Monday, 9/8c) . The quintet of 5 short films was directed by Aniston, Demi Moore, Alicia Secrets, Patty Jenkins and Penelope Spheeris. About twenty minutes each, the tales - with stars including Tripplehorn, Rosario Dawson, Ginnifer Goodwin and Patricia Clarkson - cope with the emotional ride that cancer of the breast patients as well as their families endure. The women's tales vary wildly included in this: Cheyanne (Lyndsy Fonseca), a very beautiful dancer who can't bear the idea of a mastectomy, and Mia (Clarkson), who decides to host a funeral for herself before her dying. Photo gallery: Jennifer Aniston over time Tripplehorn plays Gem, the main one character tying 5 tales together. She read books concerning the disease and spoke with several oncologists who focus on cancer of the breast treatment. However the actress thinks it had been Clarkson who had probably the most difficult task, playing the role of Mia (within the short directed by Aniston). "She wasn't eating. She needed to range from searching healthy to actually sick within 4 or 5 days. But she really stored her spirits up." For Clarkson, whose character is facing Stage 4 cancer of the breast, the task was what inspired her to take part in it. "It had been brutal," she states. "There have been moments where my chest was bound so tightly I possibly could barely breathe. But I must preface that by saying, I am an actress playing someone with cancer. I am a very lucky person. I am not really studying the disease. And That I have observed it firsthand with family people and buddies." Who're Hollywood's greatest compensated stars? Clarkson credits Aniston (also the film's executive-producer) for evoking her performance. "I possibly could not have carried this out without Jennifer. She's a very gifted director," Clarkson states. "She introduced her energy into it, and that i introduced my energy ... It had been superbly written and funny as hell." Fonseca, whose Cheyanne is married to Tommy (The Vampire Diaries' Taylor Kinney), describes that her stripper character "thinks that her self-worth is exactly what she constitutes a living from, that her body is the reason why her beautiful. And also the relationship she's together with her husband is an extremely sexualized relationship, type of a youthful, passionate couple. She will get identified with cancer of the breast and needs to obtain a double mastectomy also it type of shatters her world completely. It is a journey of her needing to search much deeper and understand that she's not her body which the love that they has together with her husband is real." The actress hopes that the more youthful audience is going to be interested in her character and stay tuned to become touched through the story and her co-star's effective performance. "It is simply this type of moving story, and Taylor is really good," she states. "There's one scene he has with David Eigenberg and that he just stops working crying within the vehicle parking area. I had been watching it being shot and that i began crying too. I walked to him and was like, 'It's OK!'" Photo gallery: Demi Moore over time About one inch every eight women is going to be identified with cancer of the breast at some stage in their existence, and also the film aims to boost understanding of that statistic. "Too many women are dying of the,Inch states Clarkson. "They have made a number of advances, although not enough, honestly. We must move forward. We have reached ensure that it stays within the daily conversation. There isn't somebody who is not touched with this disease. It's personal to everybody, and it is touched most of us.Inch Watch a clip for FIVE: Five airs Monday at 9/8c on Lifetime. Additional confirming by Hanh Nguyen

David Cronenbergs The Fly follow-up has the capacity to go

David Cronenberg has written a follow-up for the Fly which is waiting for Fox to find out whether they wish to ensure it is.Pressed about whispers from the Fly remake inside a recent Dangerous Method junket, Cronenberg mentioned."The Fly is not exactly a remake, it's type of a follow-up, kinda."Yeah, that was an issue. I've written a script of the, and I am unsure in the event that will truly happen, but that has associated with Fox."We're unsure so what can stop Fox trying to greenlight a follow-up for the Fly written and possibly directed by Cronenberg. Possibly they're really installed on Chris Walas' The Fly II.Or even they were so traumatised with the bit while using dog because film that any script marked 'The Fly II' goes into the bin.Either in situation, it is really an exciting prospect. We presently live in a worldwide where Ridley Scott is installed on a prequel to Alien together with a follow-up to Edge Runner, and David Cronenberg is searching in a Fly 2 script.That's pretty strange if you contemplate it.

Melissa McCarthy Is Having Her Moment

Melissa McCarthy Is Having Her Moment By Lacey Rose September 30, 2011 Photo by Mary Rozzi It's been five days since Melissa McCarthy won her first Emmy on Sept. 18, and she is still visibly overwhelmed by emotion when she arrives at a photo shoot for "The Hollywood Reporter" at a Los Angeles studio.Variations on "I can't believe all of this is happening to me" are uttered often by the "Mike & Molly" star, who greets a photographer, hairstylist and reporter without makeup or Hollywood pretense. If her career-making character in this past spring's surprise box-office smash "Bridesmaids" was forceful, masculine and raunchy (propositioning an air marshal midflight), then McCarthy, 41, in person is precisely the opposite: gentle, feminine and exceedingly polite.Mention the statuette she has housed between family pictures on the mantel in her L.A. house, and you can see tears form. Push McCarthy on its significance, and you get the feeling she's doing all she can to keep them from streaming down her face.Still, she's more than willing to share details of her win -- by all accounts an upset of "The Big C's" Laura Linney, "Nurse Jackie's" Edie Falco and "Parks and Recreation's" Amy Poehler, all considered stronger favorites -- but confesses her memory is spotty from shock and genuine disbelief."I remember my knees went first, and I thought, 'Oh God, please don't fall down,' " she says of her thought process in that moment. "Just keep it upright. You're in a dress. Your mom and dad are watching."She was standing beside fellow nominees Tina Fey, Martha Plimpton, Linney, Falco and Poehler, having rushed the stage when their names were announced, part of an unrehearsed comedy routine conceived days earlier by Poehler. By the time presenters Rob Lowe and Sofia Vergara began placing a tiara on McCarthy's head and a bouquet of roses and Emmy in her arms, McCarthy recalls registering a second thought: "Is this still the bit? Oh, this is going to be so awkward if this is part of the bit."But bear hugs followed from the women, and McCarthy was pushed toward the microphone. She let out a "Holy smokes," the broadcast-appropriate version of another phrase she'd mouthed seconds earlier. Then she apologized to a U.S. TV audience of 12.5 million for being a crier, with tears in her eyes as she uttered such lines as, "I'm from Plainfield, Ill., and I'm standing here, and it's kind of amazing."For McCarthy, the leapfrog over better-known nominees marked the official Hollywood coronation of an actress so outside the realm of convention that it gave the broadcast one of its few genuine surprises. Indeed, it would seem McCarthy has plenty working against her, a plus-size fortysomething in an industry that traditionally favors sample-size females two decades younger. But what she lacks in dewy ingenue sex appeal, she makes up for with depth, comedic timing and sheer likability.In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find a working actress more successful than -- or certainly as busy as -- McCarthy right now. Not only does she have a starring role on CBS' hit sitcom "Mike & Molly" -- the second season bowed Sept. 26 to a series-high 4.8 rating in the adults 18-to-49 demographic and 13.9 million viewers -- and an Oct. 1 gig as "Saturday Night Live host," but also she recently sold a road-trip comedy pitch to Paramount (with "Bridesmaids" writer Annie Mumolo) and a TV comedy project to CBS (with her actor-producer husband, Ben Falcone). All of it comes on the heels of McCarthy's scene-stealing turn as Megan, the unfiltered, unconventional and undeniable standout of the May release "Bridesmaids," a role so well-received it has Universal positioning her as awards-season bait on the film side."It's truly her moment," says CBS Entertainment chief Nina Tassler. Adds Peter Roth, president of "Mike & Molly" studio Warner Bros. TV, "This is the year of the McCarthy." It's a label he claims is richly deserved, adding: "Everything about her is relatable. You root for her; you want her to win."So what's it like to be at the white-hot center of Hollywood's attention, after nearly two decades working on the fringes? Overwhelming, exhilarating and utterly surreal are among the descriptors McCarthy uses. Earlier this summer, she was out rug shopping with Mumolo -- the longtime friends shop often for their homes, with Mumolo insisting McCarthy could be an interior designer if she weren't an actress -- when McCarthy's "team" called to see if she was up to do episode two of "SNL's" 37th season."I went into such an embarrassing, weird, inappropriately loud cry," says McCarthy of her response, laughing about a story she shares often. "Annie was running in circles. She thinks something horrible is happening because I'm bent over, literally, in the rug section of Living Spaces wailing." Mumolo cracks up at the story's retelling, adding, "I thought someone had died."If you believe the actress, the crying stopped only recently. On this day, McCarthy -- set to leave for "SNL" rehearsals in two days -- is focused on preparing for the gig and calming her nerves for the show she calls the Holy Grail of comedy. She claims she'll fly to Manhattan with a trunk filled with sketches and characters from her decade-plus tenure with L.A. improv group the Groundlings. Among them: Marbles, a cross-eyed, eccentric genius she'd love to work into a skit on "SNL." "If I get Marbles on 'SNL,' you can hit me with a bus right after that and I'll be OK," jokes McCarthy.It was this Groundlings character that won over "Mike & Molly" creator Mark Roberts during the series' casting process in early 2010. "When I saw Marbles [on McCarthy's reel], all I could think was this woman was an absolute genius," he says. "There's an off-handedness and unpredictability to her comedy that just makes it engaging." (It's worth noting that Marbles is also among the characters that won over Falcone, a fellow Groundlings alum. "She'll do anything for a laugh," he says, recalling his wife falling into splits onstage without stretching.)To hear McCarthy tell it, Marbles is precisely the type of character she's drawn to: those who are notably different but still confident and comfortable in their skin. "Bridesmaids'" Megan, in particular, fits into that category, though only after McCarthy got to put her stamp on the hard-to-cast character. What was initially conceived as a nervous oddball McCarthy reimagined as an uber-confident misfit.McCarthy went into her audition for "Bridesmaids" with Dockers, no makeup and a force-of-nature attitude. In her mind, she was channeling past Groundlings characters with the physical appearance of the Food Network's Guy Fieri, from one of her favorite shows "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" (other favorites include "Top Chef" and "Chopped"). She remembers leaving the audition horrified by her performance: "The whole ride home, I was like, 'God, you get one shot, and you go in and you act weird,' " she says. "I was like, 'You idiot, you idiot.' "Fortunately, producer Judd Apatow and director Paul Feig, along with writers and former Groundlings members Kristen Wiig and Mumolo, appreciated her take on weird. "My jaw hit the ground," recalls Feig of McCarthy's audition. "I remember watching the first time, and we almost couldn't laugh because we were like: 'Oh my God. What is she doing? This is amazing.'"That her improv skills were similarly top-notch -- Feig is fond of telling the story of a scene that didn't make the cut where McCarthy's Megan starts ad-libbing about a squirrel infestation in her house, revealing there's "a squirrel burrowing its way into her vagina and living inside her" -- made her casting a no-brainer.For Mumolo and Wiig, who had recommended her for the role, "Bridesmaids" was an opportunity to share the side of McCarthy that fans of her TV work did not know. "She'd just get on the stage [at Groundlings] and grab the crowd by the balls," says Mumolo, who acknowledges she was initially thrown when McCarthy was cast as the "nice little chef" on "Gilmore Girls." Her husband, who played Air Marshal Jon in "Bridesmaids," agrees, arguing, "'Bridesmaids' was really the first chance for Melissa to show what exactly she can do."So where does McCarthy's gut-busting humor come from? As noted in her Emmy speech, she was raised in Plainfield, some 45 minutes southwest of Chicago, on a working corn and soybean farm. (Her parents remain there, though they've since moved off the farm.) Without neighborhood kids to play with, she and her older sister spent much of their childhood creating characters and an imaginary world -- a skill that would clearly serve her well later in life.By the time she hit her teens, a social McCarthy had joined the cheerleading squad and student council. But by her sophomore year, boredom had set in. "I turned intensely gothic," she laughs, reflecting on her attention-grabbing uniform of kabuki makeup, combat boots and shaved patches of her head. "I think I just loved all of the pageantry of it."At that time, McCarthy had her heart set on a career in fashion. She and close friend and fellow goth Brian Atwood, now a well-known women's shoe designer, would tear out pages of Vogue and fantasize about their own lines. Her parents beat down the idea of her attending the Fashion Institute of Technology in NY, so she settled on Southern Illinois University, where she briefly studied clothing and textiles before dropping out.With boredom having seeped in again, McCarthy decided to follow her sister Margie to Boulder, Colo., where she found a gig making costumes for a dance company. But a visit from Atwood, who had already moved to NY, convinced a then 20-year-old McCarthy to pack her bags and join him in Manhattan. Once there, it was he who suggested she try her hand at stand-up, a genre with which she'd had no previous experience."It was terrible," she says, describing the wig and gold leather jacket Atwood squeezed her into for her first open-mic night at Stand Up NY. She hadn't realized most comics come with material and that the light that blinks after an allotted period is a signal to wrap it up. "I just told these long, bizarre stories," she chuckles. "I had no idea what the light meant, so I was winking and nodding at it like: 'Thanks, guys. I appreciate the help.' I kept going and going." Perhaps surprisingly, she was invited back.At first, a young McCarthy loved it. "This idea of really being able to pace an audience and make strangers laugh, I just thought it was the greatest thing," she says. But she grew tired of the hecklers fairly quickly and turned her attention to theater, studying and performing in off-off-Broadway productions for several years.The inability to make a living finally caught up to her, and she packed her bags again and moved to Los Angeles, where she moved into a friend's kitchen to save money. Her sister had sent her a newspaper clip about The Groundlings, so she boarded a city bus, auditioned and got in. "It changed my life," she insists. "It taught me to write and how to do a character rather than just play crazy." (McCarthy is set to return to the Groundlings with a special performance in October.)After a string of lower-level production gigs (the first on her cousin Jenny McCarthy's eponymous MTV sketch-comedy show) and small roles in film ("Go", "Charlie's Angels"), she landed a supporting role on "Gilmore Girls," a coming-of-age drama on the now-defunct WB (and later on spinoff the CW). The series, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel as mother and daughter, ran from 2000 to 2007. Within months of wrapping, McCarthy was hitched to another friend role in ABC's short-lived Christina Applegate vehicle "Samantha Who?"Then came "Mike & Molly," in which executive producer Chuck Lorre decided the longtime supporting actress "was more than ready to step into the lead role." The first time McCarthy read with co-star Billy Gardell, says Lorre, "was one of those moments you dream about. They were perfect together. I like to imagine that Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows were smiling down on us." (She was eight months pregnant with her second child at the time.)When "Mike & Molly" premiered in fall 2010, critics were struck by its premise. Rather than feature impossibly thin characters living upper-class existences, as many primetime offerings do, the CBS series centered on a blue-collar cop and schoolteacher couple who meet at Overeaters Anonymous. The plotline stirred early controversy when a Marie Claire writer claimed on the magazine's website that she would be "grossed out if [she] had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kiss each other."But Roberts believes the realness of the series' characters -- and their waistlines -- has helped make "Mike & Molly" a success, regularly garnering 10 million viewers during its first season. "I had gotten very tired of watching people on television that were just sort of improbable," says Roberts of his thought process while penning the pilot. "They were too perfect, they made too much money, and their apartments were way outside of their economic abilities."For Gardell, a long-time stand-up comic, that authenticity was part of the characters' appeal. "We're not the norm on TV, and I think we take great pride in representing down-to-earth people who are just trying to get better," says McCarthy's co-star. "I think you have to have a deep soul to do that, and Melissa definitely has one."McCarthy agrees, claiming she was drawn to the idea that the show features real people with real jobs. "I don't know any neighborhoods where everyone's walking around in seven-inch heels and perfect makeup," she says, arguing she has been less bothered by criticism of her physical appearance since becoming a mother to daughters Vivian, 4 -- who has been parading around for days with her mother's Emmy tiara -- and Georgette, 1 ."The stupid stuff like what I wear or how I look I can't control, so I just try not to give too much energy to it," she continues, noting later that after having her second child, her body is a work in progress. "At 20, I would have been like: 'Don't they like me? Was it my hair?' At 41, I think the things that define me, I hope, are a lot more than those kinds of petty things."With her raised profile, McCarthy is getting ready to launch a retail line for other plus-size women. "Trying to find stuff that's still fashion-forward in my size is damn near impossible. It's either for like a 98-year-old woman or a 14-year-old hooker, and there is nothing in the middle," she laughs, recalling her recent struggles to find a dress for the Emmys. After combing through "9 million dresses with taffeta or shiny bows," she opted to channel that teenage passion and design her own (with couture dressmaker Daniella Pearl).She could need more of her own creations as the awards circuit heats up. McCarthy is likely to garner attention for her role in "Bridesmaids," a rare female-lead comedy hit with both critics and viewers. The movie earned nearly $170 million at the domestic box office, making it the No. 2-grossing comedy of the year behind "The Hangover Part II." (By comparison, Apatow's earlier hits "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Knocked Up" and "Superbad" banked $109 million, $149 million and $121 million, respectively.)What's more, it solidified something so rare it's almost unheard of in Hollywood circles: a posse of female comedians, including Groundlings alumna McCarthy, Wiig, Mumolo, Maya Rudolph and Wendi McLendon-Covey. For the genre's males, there has been the Adam Sandler crew, the Will Ferrell clan and even the Jason Segel-Seth Rogen gang. But outside of Fey and Poehler's East Coast tribe, there has never been a network of female comedians as powerful as this one. "We all keep texting and calling each other, going: 'Are you freaking out right now? I don't know what's happening,' " says Mumolo of the troupe. "I think we're all still spinning from the summer. And Melissa, Melissa is in outer space."Now, McCarthy and Falcone, currently in Atlanta filming "What to Expect When You're Expecting," are busy prepping a production company. The pair is leaning toward naming it On the Day, a phrase McCarthy utters often. "Whenever someone wants to really rehearse a part, I always say, 'Oh, on the day, on the day it will be fine," she says, referencing her distaste for over-rehearsing.It's a fitting next step given how many projects McCarthy has in the works, a byproduct of her recent success. "To have the opportunity to start developing and being on the creating side of stuff, for me, is one of the most amazing and exciting things that's happened," she says, back in gush mode. "I've been writing for 15 years, and now, suddenly, people are like, 'Oh, what's in that drawer?' It's like, 'Well, I'll show what's in the drawer.' "In addition to being in negotiations to star opposite Jason Bateman in "Identity Thief," McCarthy and Mumolo are co-writing another McCarthy star vehicle. The project, set up at Paramount, will feature McCarthy as the mastermind of a plan to hijack the Stanley Cup in order to cheer up her sick husband.Then there's the multicamera comedy concept about a woman having a midlife crisis that was recently sold to CBS, which she and Falcone will co-write and co-executive produce. "When you hear a pitch and the writer knows every aspect of that character's life, you feel the reality," says CBS' Tassler of McCarthy's animated sell. "There was crying in the pitch, and then there was laughter and outrage. She painted the full picture."McCarthy's drawer also houses a dark comedy feature script that's about halfway complete from McCarthy and "The Help" writer-director Tate Taylor, another fellow Groundlings alum. But it's a project titled "Tammy" that McCarthy claims has her heart."It's so funny, and it also kind of breaks my heart," she says of a film script of hers centering on a woman who is leading an exceptionally unfulfilled life. The character wakes up one morning as things are crumbling around her and decides she has to get out of town -- and the only way to do so is in her grandmother's car. When her heavy-drinking grandmother insists on going along, they end up on a wild road trip to Mount Rushmore. "It's these two women who are not where they thought they'd be, and they kind of band together," she says, her excitement on display.The "Bridesmaids" team is not through with her, either. Apatow already has locked her into his still-untitled "Knocked Up" spinoff, and Feig says his "Dumb Jock" project at Universal has been set up for her to star in. "She's really one of my new heroes," says Feig of McCarthy. "I'll do anything to keep working with her. When you find someone like her, you don't let them go." The Hollywood Reporter Melissa McCarthy Is Having Her Moment By Lacey Rose September 30, 2011 PHOTO CREDIT Mary Rozzi It's been five days since Melissa McCarthy won her first Emmy on Sept. 18, and she is still visibly overwhelmed by emotion when she arrives at a photo shoot for "The Hollywood Reporter" at a Los Angeles studio.Variations on "I can't believe all of this is happening to me" are uttered often by the "Mike & Molly" star, who greets a photographer, hairstylist and reporter without makeup or Hollywood pretense. If her career-making character in this past spring's surprise box-office smash "Bridesmaids" was forceful, masculine and raunchy (propositioning an air marshal midflight), then McCarthy, 41, in person is precisely the opposite: gentle, feminine and exceedingly polite.Mention the statuette she has housed between family pictures on the mantel in her L.A. house, and you can see tears form. Push McCarthy on its significance, and you get the feeling she's doing all she can to keep them from streaming down her face.Still, she's more than willing to share details of her win -- by all accounts an upset of "The Big C's" Laura Linney, "Nurse Jackie's" Edie Falco and "Parks and Recreation's" Amy Poehler, all considered stronger favorites -- but confesses her memory is spotty from shock and genuine disbelief."I remember my knees went first, and I thought, 'Oh God, please don't fall down,' " she says of her thought process in that moment. "Just keep it upright. You're in a dress. Your mom and dad are watching."She was standing beside fellow nominees Tina Fey, Martha Plimpton, Linney, Falco and Poehler, having rushed the stage when their names were announced, part of an unrehearsed comedy routine conceived days earlier by Poehler. By the time presenters Rob Lowe and Sofia Vergara began placing a tiara on McCarthy's head and a bouquet of roses and Emmy in her arms, McCarthy recalls registering a second thought: "Is this still the bit? Oh, this is going to be so awkward if this is part of the bit."But bear hugs followed from the women, and McCarthy was pushed toward the microphone. She let out a "Holy smokes," the broadcast-appropriate version of another phrase she'd mouthed seconds earlier. Then she apologized to a U.S. TV audience of 12.5 million for being a crier, with tears in her eyes as she uttered such lines as, "I'm from Plainfield, Ill., and I'm standing here, and it's kind of amazing."For McCarthy, the leapfrog over better-known nominees marked the official Hollywood coronation of an actress so outside the realm of convention that it gave the broadcast one of its few genuine surprises. Indeed, it would seem McCarthy has plenty working against her, a plus-size fortysomething in an industry that traditionally favors sample-size females two decades younger. But what she lacks in dewy ingenue sex appeal, she makes up for with depth, comedic timing and sheer likability.In fact, you'd be hard-pressed to find a working actress more successful than -- or certainly as busy as -- McCarthy right now. Not only does she have a starring role on CBS' hit sitcom "Mike & Molly" -- the second season bowed Sept. 26 to a series-high 4.8 rating in the adults 18-to-49 demographic and 13.9 million viewers -- and an Oct. 1 gig as "Saturday Night Live host," but also she recently sold a road-trip comedy pitch to Paramount (with "Bridesmaids" writer Annie Mumolo) and a TV comedy project to CBS (with her actor-producer husband, Ben Falcone). All of it comes on the heels of McCarthy's scene-stealing turn as Megan, the unfiltered, unconventional and undeniable standout of the May release "Bridesmaids," a role so well-received it has Universal positioning her as awards-season bait on the film side."It's truly her moment," says CBS Entertainment chief Nina Tassler. Adds Peter Roth, president of "Mike & Molly" studio Warner Bros. TV, "This is the year of the McCarthy." It's a label he claims is richly deserved, adding: "Everything about her is relatable. You root for her; you want her to win."So what's it like to be at the white-hot center of Hollywood's attention, after nearly two decades working on the fringes? Overwhelming, exhilarating and utterly surreal are among the descriptors McCarthy uses. Earlier this summer, she was out rug shopping with Mumolo -- the longtime friends shop often for their homes, with Mumolo insisting McCarthy could be an interior designer if she weren't an actress -- when McCarthy's "team" called to see if she was up to do episode two of "SNL's" 37th season."I went into such an embarrassing, weird, inappropriately loud cry," says McCarthy of her response, laughing about a story she shares often. "Annie was running in circles. She thinks something horrible is happening because I'm bent over, literally, in the rug section of Living Spaces wailing." Mumolo cracks up at the story's retelling, adding, "I thought someone had died."If you believe the actress, the crying stopped only recently. On this day, McCarthy -- set to leave for "SNL" rehearsals in two days -- is focused on preparing for the gig and calming her nerves for the show she calls the Holy Grail of comedy. She claims she'll fly to Manhattan with a trunk filled with sketches and characters from her decade-plus tenure with L.A. improv group the Groundlings. Among them: Marbles, a cross-eyed, eccentric genius she'd love to work into a skit on "SNL." "If I get Marbles on 'SNL,' you can hit me with a bus right after that and I'll be OK," jokes McCarthy.It was this Groundlings character that won over "Mike & Molly" creator Mark Roberts during the series' casting process in early 2010. "When I saw Marbles [on McCarthy's reel], all I could think was this woman was an absolute genius," he says. "There's an off-handedness and unpredictability to her comedy that just makes it engaging." (It's worth noting that Marbles is also among the characters that won over Falcone, a fellow Groundlings alum. "She'll do anything for a laugh," he says, recalling his wife falling into splits onstage without stretching.)To hear McCarthy tell it, Marbles is precisely the type of character she's drawn to: those who are notably different but still confident and comfortable in their skin. "Bridesmaids'" Megan, in particular, fits into that category, though only after McCarthy got to put her stamp on the hard-to-cast character. What was initially conceived as a nervous oddball McCarthy reimagined as an uber-confident misfit.McCarthy went into her audition for "Bridesmaids" with Dockers, no makeup and a force-of-nature attitude. In her mind, she was channeling past Groundlings characters with the physical appearance of the Food Network's Guy Fieri, from one of her favorite shows "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" (other favorites include "Top Chef" and "Chopped"). She remembers leaving the audition horrified by her performance: "The whole ride home, I was like, 'God, you get one shot, and you go in and you act weird,' " she says. "I was like, 'You idiot, you idiot.' "Fortunately, producer Judd Apatow and director Paul Feig, along with writers and former Groundlings members Kristen Wiig and Mumolo, appreciated her take on weird. "My jaw hit the ground," recalls Feig of McCarthy's audition. "I remember watching the first time, and we almost couldn't laugh because we were like: 'Oh my God. What is she doing? This is amazing.'"That her improv skills were similarly top-notch -- Feig is fond of telling the story of a scene that didn't make the cut where McCarthy's Megan starts ad-libbing about a squirrel infestation in her house, revealing there's "a squirrel burrowing its way into her vagina and living inside her" -- made her casting a no-brainer.For Mumolo and Wiig, who had recommended her for the role, "Bridesmaids" was an opportunity to share the side of McCarthy that fans of her TV work did not know. "She'd just get on the stage [at Groundlings] and grab the crowd by the balls," says Mumolo, who acknowledges she was initially thrown when McCarthy was cast as the "nice little chef" on "Gilmore Girls." Her husband, who played Air Marshal Jon in "Bridesmaids," agrees, arguing, "'Bridesmaids' was really the first chance for Melissa to show what exactly she can do."So where does McCarthy's gut-busting humor come from? As noted in her Emmy speech, she was raised in Plainfield, some 45 minutes southwest of Chicago, on a working corn and soybean farm. (Her parents remain there, though they've since moved off the farm.) Without neighborhood kids to play with, she and her older sister spent much of their childhood creating characters and an imaginary world -- a skill that would clearly serve her well later in life.By the time she hit her teens, a social McCarthy had joined the cheerleading squad and student council. But by her sophomore year, boredom had set in. "I turned intensely gothic," she laughs, reflecting on her attention-grabbing uniform of kabuki makeup, combat boots and shaved patches of her head. "I think I just loved all of the pageantry of it."At that time, McCarthy had her heart set on a career in fashion. She and close friend and fellow goth Brian Atwood, now a well-known women's shoe designer, would tear out pages of Vogue and fantasize about their own lines. Her parents beat down the idea of her attending the Fashion Institute of Technology in NY, so she settled on Southern Illinois University, where she briefly studied clothing and textiles before dropping out.With boredom having seeped in again, McCarthy decided to follow her sister Margie to Boulder, Colo., where she found a gig making costumes for a dance company. But a visit from Atwood, who had already moved to NY, convinced a then 20-year-old McCarthy to pack her bags and join him in Manhattan. Once there, it was he who suggested she try her hand at stand-up, a genre with which she'd had no previous experience."It was terrible," she says, describing the wig and gold leather jacket Atwood squeezed her into for her first open-mic night at Stand Up NY. She hadn't realized most comics come with material and that the light that blinks after an allotted period is a signal to wrap it up. "I just told these long, bizarre stories," she chuckles. "I had no idea what the light meant, so I was winking and nodding at it like: 'Thanks, guys. I appreciate the help.' I kept going and going." Perhaps surprisingly, she was invited back.At first, a young McCarthy loved it. "This idea of really being able to pace an audience and make strangers laugh, I just thought it was the greatest thing," she says. But she grew tired of the hecklers fairly quickly and turned her attention to theater, studying and performing in off-off-Broadway productions for several years.The inability to make a living finally caught up to her, and she packed her bags again and moved to Los Angeles, where she moved into a friend's kitchen to save money. Her sister had sent her a newspaper clip about The Groundlings, so she boarded a city bus, auditioned and got in. "It changed my life," she insists. "It taught me to write and how to do a character rather than just play crazy." (McCarthy is set to return to the Groundlings with a special performance in October.)After a string of lower-level production gigs (the first on her cousin Jenny McCarthy's eponymous MTV sketch-comedy show) and small roles in film ("Go", "Charlie's Angels"), she landed a supporting role on "Gilmore Girls," a coming-of-age drama on the now-defunct WB (and later on spinoff the CW). The series, starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel as mother and daughter, ran from 2000 to 2007. Within months of wrapping, McCarthy was hitched to another friend role in ABC's short-lived Christina Applegate vehicle "Samantha Who?"Then came "Mike & Molly," in which executive producer Chuck Lorre decided the longtime supporting actress "was more than ready to step into the lead role." The first time McCarthy read with co-star Billy Gardell, says Lorre, "was one of those moments you dream about. They were perfect together. I like to imagine that Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows were smiling down on us." (She was eight months pregnant with her second child at the time.)When "Mike & Molly" premiered in fall 2010, critics were struck by its premise. Rather than feature impossibly thin characters living upper-class existences, as many primetime offerings do, the CBS series centered on a blue-collar cop and schoolteacher couple who meet at Overeaters Anonymous. The plotline stirred early controversy when a Marie Claire writer claimed on the magazine's website that she would be "grossed out if [she] had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kiss each other."But Roberts believes the realness of the series' characters -- and their waistlines -- has helped make "Mike & Molly" a success, regularly garnering 10 million viewers during its first season. "I had gotten very tired of watching people on television that were just sort of improbable," says Roberts of his thought process while penning the pilot. "They were too perfect, they made too much money, and their apartments were way outside of their economic abilities."For Gardell, a long-time stand-up comic, that authenticity was part of the characters' appeal. "We're not the norm on TV, and I think we take great pride in representing down-to-earth people who are just trying to get better," says McCarthy's co-star. "I think you have to have a deep soul to do that, and Melissa definitely has one."McCarthy agrees, claiming she was drawn to the idea that the show features real people with real jobs. "I don't know any neighborhoods where everyone's walking around in seven-inch heels and perfect makeup," she says, arguing she has been less bothered by criticism of her physical appearance since becoming a mother to daughters Vivian, 4 -- who has been parading around for days with her mother's Emmy tiara -- and Georgette, 1 ."The stupid stuff like what I wear or how I look I can't control, so I just try not to give too much energy to it," she continues, noting later that after having her second child, her body is a work in progress. "At 20, I would have been like: 'Don't they like me? Was it my hair?' At 41, I think the things that define me, I hope, are a lot more than those kinds of petty things."With her raised profile, McCarthy is getting ready to launch a retail line for other plus-size women. "Trying to find stuff that's still fashion-forward in my size is damn near impossible. It's either for like a 98-year-old woman or a 14-year-old hooker, and there is nothing in the middle," she laughs, recalling her recent struggles to find a dress for the Emmys. After combing through "9 million dresses with taffeta or shiny bows," she opted to channel that teenage passion and design her own (with couture dressmaker Daniella Pearl).She could need more of her own creations as the awards circuit heats up. McCarthy is likely to garner attention for her role in "Bridesmaids," a rare female-lead comedy hit with both critics and viewers. The movie earned nearly $170 million at the domestic box office, making it the No. 2-grossing comedy of the year behind "The Hangover Part II." (By comparison, Apatow's earlier hits "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Knocked Up" and "Superbad" banked $109 million, $149 million and $121 million, respectively.)What's more, it solidified something so rare it's almost unheard of in Hollywood circles: a posse of female comedians, including Groundlings alumna McCarthy, Wiig, Mumolo, Maya Rudolph and Wendi McLendon-Covey. For the genre's males, there has been the Adam Sandler crew, the Will Ferrell clan and even the Jason Segel-Seth Rogen gang. But outside of Fey and Poehler's East Coast tribe, there has never been a network of female comedians as powerful as this one. "We all keep texting and calling each other, going: 'Are you freaking out right now? I don't know what's happening,' " says Mumolo of the troupe. "I think we're all still spinning from the summer. And Melissa, Melissa is in outer space."Now, McCarthy and Falcone, currently in Atlanta filming "What to Expect When You're Expecting," are busy prepping a production company. The pair is leaning toward naming it On the Day, a phrase McCarthy utters often. "Whenever someone wants to really rehearse a part, I always say, 'Oh, on the day, on the day it will be fine," she says, referencing her distaste for over-rehearsing.It's a fitting next step given how many projects McCarthy has in the works, a byproduct of her recent success. "To have the opportunity to start developing and being on the creating side of stuff, for me, is one of the most amazing and exciting things that's happened," she says, back in gush mode. "I've been writing for 15 years, and now, suddenly, people are like, 'Oh, what's in that drawer?' It's like, 'Well, I'll show what's in the drawer.' "In addition to being in negotiations to star opposite Jason Bateman in "Identity Thief," McCarthy and Mumolo are co-writing another McCarthy star vehicle. The project, set up at Paramount, will feature McCarthy as the mastermind of a plan to hijack the Stanley Cup in order to cheer up her sick husband.Then there's the multicamera comedy concept about a woman having a midlife crisis that was recently sold to CBS, which she and Falcone will co-write and co-executive produce. "When you hear a pitch and the writer knows every aspect of that character's life, you feel the reality," says CBS' Tassler of McCarthy's animated sell. "There was crying in the pitch, and then there was laughter and outrage. She painted the full picture."McCarthy's drawer also houses a dark comedy feature script that's about halfway complete from McCarthy and "The Help" writer-director Tate Taylor, another fellow Groundlings alum. But it's a project titled "Tammy" that McCarthy claims has her heart."It's so funny, and it also kind of breaks my heart," she says of a film script of hers centering on a woman who is leading an exceptionally unfulfilled life. The character wakes up one morning as things are crumbling around her and decides she has to get out of town -- and the only way to do so is in her grandmother's car. When her heavy-drinking grandmother insists on going along, they end up on a wild road trip to Mount Rushmore. "It's these two women who are not where they thought they'd be, and they kind of band together," she says, her excitement on display.The "Bridesmaids" team is not through with her, either. Apatow already has locked her into his still-untitled "Knocked Up" spinoff, and Feig says his "Dumb Jock" project at Universal has been set up for her to star in. "She's really one of my new heroes," says Feig of McCarthy. "I'll do anything to keep working with her. When you find someone like her, you don't let them go." The Hollywood Reporter

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