![](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/melissa-mccarthy-facebook.jpg?quality=85&w=2400)
The Ghostbusters reboot, out July 15, is truly an ensemble affair. Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon play off of one another’s wackiness as a quartet of malevolent-apparition hunters in a way that makes each actor indispensable to the crew. But if there’s one performer whose appearance in director Paul Feig’s summer comedy was a foregone conclusion, it’s McCarthy, who has developed a robust working relationship with Feig, from Bridesmaids to The Heat to Spy.
As a comedic lead McCarthy has proven both bankable and worthy of critical adulation—her turn in Bridesmaids was met with an Academy Award nomination, a rare feat for a performance that includes explosive bodily excretions—largely thanks to her blend of slapstick looniness and warmth. In anticipation of her turn as Abby Yates in Ghostbusters, here’s a look at McCarthy’s greatest roles, all the way back to Gilmore Girls‘ beloved Sookie St. James.
![Melissa McCarthy, right, as Sookie St. James in Gilmore GIrls, 2000-2007.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/melissa-mccarthy-1.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Melissa McCarthy, right, as Molly Flynn in Mike & Molly, 2010-2016.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/melissa-mccarthy-2.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Melissa McCarthy as Megan Price in Bridesmaids, 2011.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/melissa-mccarthy-10.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Melissa McCarthy as Detective Shannon Mullins in The Heat, 2013.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/melissa-mccarthy-9.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Melissa McCarthy as Tammy Banks in Tammy, 2014.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/melissa-mccarthy-8.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Melissa McCarthy as Diana in Identity Thief, 2013.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/melissa-mccarthy-4.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Melissa McCarthy as Maggie Bronstein in St. Vincent, 2014.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/melissa-mccarthy-7.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper in Spy, 2015.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/melissa-mccarthy-6.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Melissa McCarthy as Michelle Darnell in The Boss, 2016.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/melissa-mccarthy-5.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
![Melissa McCarthy, second from left, as Abby Yates in Ghostbusters, 2016.](https://api.time.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/melissa-mccarthy-3.jpg?quality=75&w=2400)
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Why Biden Dropped Out
- Ukraine’s Plan to Survive Trump
- The Rise of a New Kind of Parenting Guru
- The Chaos and Commotion of the RNC in Photos
- Why We All Have a Stake in Twisters’ Success
- 8 Eating Habits That Actually Improve Your Sleep
- Welcome to the Noah Lyles Olympics
- Get Our Paris Olympics Newsletter in Your Inbox
Contact us at letters@time.com