See Melissa McCarthy’s Best Roles

1 minute read

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.
Melissa McCarthy, right, as Sookie St. James in Gilmore GIrls, 2000-2007.Patrick Ecclesine—Warner Bros./Getty Images
Melissa McCarthy, right, as Molly Flynn in Mike & Molly, 2010-2016.
Melissa McCarthy, right, as Molly Flynn in Mike & Molly, 2010-2016.Sonja Flemming—CBS/Getty Images
Melissa McCarthy as Megan Price in Bridesmaids, 2011.
Melissa McCarthy as Megan Price in Bridesmaids, 2011. Universal Pictures
Melissa McCarthy as Detective Shannon Mullins in The Heat, 2013.
Melissa McCarthy, right, as Detective Shannon Mullins in The Heat, 2013.20th Century Fox
Melissa McCarthy as Tammy Banks in Tammy, 2014.
Melissa McCarthy as Tammy Banks in Tammy, 2014.Warner Bros. Pictures
Melissa McCarthy as Diana in Identity Thief, 2013.
Melissa McCarthy as Diana in Identity Thief, 2013. Universal Pictures
Melissa McCarthy as Maggie Bronstein in St. Vincent, 2014.
Melissa McCarthy as Maggie Bronstein in St. Vincent, 2014. The Weinstein Company
Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper in Spy, 2015.
Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper in Spy, 2015. 20th Century Fox
Melissa McCarthy as Michelle Darnell in The Boss, 2016.
Melissa McCarthy as Michelle Darnell in The Boss, 2016. Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection
Melissa McCarthy, second from left, as Abby Yates in Ghostbusters, 2016.
Melissa McCarthy, second from left, as Abby Yates in Ghostbusters, 2016.Columbia Pictures

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