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1 of 10Melissa McCarthy, right, as Sookie St. James in Gilmore GIrls, 2000-2007.Patrick Ecclesine—Warner Bros./Getty Images -
2 of 10Melissa McCarthy, right, as Molly Flynn in Mike & Molly, 2010-2016.Sonja Flemming—CBS/Getty Images -
3 of 10Melissa McCarthy as Megan Price in Bridesmaids, 2011.Universal Pictures -
4 of 10Melissa McCarthy, right, as Detective Shannon Mullins in The Heat, 2013.20th Century Fox -
5 of 10Melissa McCarthy as Tammy Banks in Tammy, 2014.Warner Bros. Pictures -
6 of 10Melissa McCarthy as Diana in Identity Thief, 2013.Universal Pictures -
7 of 10Melissa McCarthy as Maggie Bronstein in St. Vincent, 2014.The Weinstein Company -
8 of 10Melissa McCarthy as Susan Cooper in Spy, 2015.20th Century Fox -
9 of 10Melissa McCarthy as Michelle Darnell in The Boss, 2016.Universal Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection -
10 of 10Melissa McCarthy, second from left, as Abby Yates in Ghostbusters, 2016.Columbia Pictures
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.
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