I think we can officially say that 2011 was Melissa McCarthy‘s year. I don’t mean this to say she’ll never be successful again, but if there was ever a time when someone’s career took a sharp turn for the amazing (after already being not-too-shabby-at-all), it was last year. Because now the Emmy-winner is a newly-minted Oscar nominee (Best Supporting Actress for Bridesmaids), right alongside the women who created this game-changing role for her — Best Original Screenplay nominees Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo. This is such a great day for women in comedy, but really, it’s a great day for comedy in general.
While we have yet to hear from Wiig and Mumolo on their nod, McCarthy supplied Entertainment Weekly with a fabulous, party-ready (or party-at-home-ready) quote about her reaction to her nomination:
”I didn’t get up or anything,” McCarthy says. “I just did not expect that. AT ALL! Hopefully I’m not nuts.”
Adding:
“I have to go to work in an hour,” she says. “I have to shoot today. But that’s not a bad thing — I love my job. Then I have a show tomorrow. At some point today, I’m having champagne dammit!”
And no one really deserves it more than Melissa McCarthy. Obviously, we talk a lot about Bridesmaids (and write gushy, overly-emotional reviews about it), and more often than not, we talk about what it has meant for women in comedy. It did wonderful things for women in comedy, but after being not only a critical darling and a box office success, it has now been recognized for various awards. And say what you want about the meaningfulness of awards, but the fact is that they exist, and they are taken seriously by the Powers That Be in Hollywoodland. And they often leave out other things that deserve acclaim. But Bridesmaids getting a screenwriting nomination plus an acting nomination is important — it means that we don’t have to talk about it as a “women’s comedy.” It is part of the big leagues now. It is a successful comedy movie that has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Hopefully, there will be even more that won’t be blatant copycats, that will tell original (and hilarious) stories about women that also have nothing to do with romance or women fighting with each other (over a romantic interest).
That said, how in the name of all that’s holy could they have excluded Elizabeth Olsen and Michael Fassbender??? And just a soundtrack nomination for The Adventures of Tintin? And no female directing nominees? And, seriously, Transformers 3??? WTF, Academy???
But still — we’re really happy about the Bridesmaids nominations. For serious.
(Entertainment Weekly via Moviefone)
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