Melissa McCarthy has had an interesting career. Every actor certainly has their ups and downs when being in the business for quite a while, but it’s a rare few that reach the heights that the Oscar nominee has gotten. Though Melissa McCarthy got her start in the late 90’s on television, the 53-year-old didn’t see any notoriety until her breakout role as Megan in Bridesmaids. Combine that with a success television and the veteran had finally reached A-list status.
Audiences adored McCarthy’s charm and comedic performances and it was clear she was a star when he first lead role, Identity Thief, made over $150 million worldwide on a shoe string budget of $35 million. The sky was the limit for the Oscar nominee, but as the years passed and her filmography grew, her box office numbers started to shrink. It’s fascinating to see how one of Hollywood’s hottest stars eventually lost her appeal to most fans worldwide.
Melissa McCarthy Is A Talented Actress
There’s a reason that the actress has two Academy Award nominations because she’s definitely talented. The reason McCarthy stood out in Bridesmaids was her brash and comedic performance. Megan was genuinely funny, but there was a nice warmth to her character that made relatable. But McCarthy has showcased that she isn’t a one trick pony thanks to films like Can You Forgive Me? or her mini-series Nine Perfect Strangers. Is McCarthy completely box office poison? No, as she just released her highest grossing film to date, The Little Mermaid.
However, the caveat of The Little Mermaid was that she wasn’t the lead. Plus, it was based on a popular intellectual property. However, given how much damage Ghostbusters did for many of the cast, it’s still a win that The Little Mermaid garnered over $500 million worldwide. Still, it is one of the lowest grossing Disney adaptations and despite the box office total, The Little Mermaid wasn’t a success since the production budget was $250 million.
Melissa McCarthy Has A Bad Eye For Good Scripts
Clearly, McCarthy has been in good roles in her career, but he recent outputs are a big reason why she’s struggled to maintain success. Bridesmaids was her breakout role and she managed to keep her momentum hot thanks to Identity Thief, even if that film was panned by critics. Once again, her performance was praised and it helped that she shared the screen with Jason Bateman, but the script was just not good.
The Heat and St. Vincent were solid affairs, but Tammy was a big head scratcher. This was actually her husband’s feature film debut as a director and writer, so on paper, it’s understandable why she starred in the film. Though McCarthy also had a hand in the script as well. Her collaboration with her husband has been a major downfall of McCarthy’s career. Ben and Melissa’s highest rated films together as writers is Life of the Party. While these movies were budget friendly, they were critically panned and didn’t make anywhere close to $100 million worldwide.
But it wasn’t just her collaboration with Ben Falcone. The Kitchen, The Happytime Murderers, The Hangover Part III were also stinkers as well. McCarthy’s appeal dwindled with bad film and by the time The Kitchen rolled around, fans no longer took the actress seriously as a performer.
Melissa McCarthy Hasn’t Move Passed Her Bridesmaid’s Role
This seems like a strange statement when you look at Melissa’s filmography. As previously stated, the Oscar nominee is quite a dynamic performer, but none of her new roles has overshadowed the one that made people pay attention to Melissa in the first place. It’s quite a sad thing as there’s several roles that easily top Megan, but ever actor has more than one defining role that fans remember them by: Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Meryl Streep, Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe are just a short list of names that have more than one defining role.
Despite having five films that made over a $100 million worldwide, Megan is the one that most people recognize the Hollywood actress from. Sure, there will be fans who name Spy, Can You Forgive Me?, or Tammy as another role that know her from, but not a good majority. She’s the raunchy Bridesmaids chick. It’s not an easy feat to grab multiple defining roles, but the veteran has lost her appeal that made her such a sensation following Bridesmaids.
Follow Us
