Melissa McCarthy & Ben Falcone Sparkle on Cover of Parade
In This Article:
The comedic couple on their new podcast, how they celebrate Thanksgiving and the sequel that "should just happen"
NEW YORK, November 15, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Parade, the premium legacy entertainment and lifestyle brand, released its latest cover story featuring A-list power couple, Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone. For the interview, McCarthy, 54, and Falcone, 51, are sitting dressed as if they’re ready to do battle during medieval times.
"I’m an owl wizard and she’s a sparkly warrior," Falcone explains. McCarthy, beaming in a bright silver suit of armor, quickly corrects him: "I’m a disco warrior!"
The costumes have a special purpose. McCarthy and Falcone—married since 2005—wanted to get in the spirit of their latest joint project, a scripted comedy podcast titled Hildy the Barback and the Lake of Fire (which Falcone co-wrote with Steve Mallory). It centers on an epic quest to fight an evil force and is currently the top-rated fiction podcast on Apple.
The couple – who crossed paths as teenagers in their native Illinois and first worked together at The Groundlings comedy troupe in Los Angeles in the late 1980s – wouldn’t have it any other way.
Read the full interview here. Notable quotes are below.
On their spark
"For sure we share a similar sense of humor. We met writing and performing together before we even started dating. We love being on stage together, so that was our initial spark. It delightfully hasn’t changed." (McCarthy)
On life around the house
"Even when we’re working around the house, Ben and I end up pitching each other projects. We’re always just super-trying to make the other person laugh." (McCarthy)
On why they’re doing a comedy podcast
"I can't clean up the water. We can't clean up the air. We don't have those skills. But if we can maybe take somebody's mind off of things that are tricky in half-hour segments, we should at least try to do it." (McCarthy)
On her secret past as a goth
"I'm from a little farm town in Illinois [Plainfield], so to suddenly have, like, crazy black hair and wear kabuki makeup and long capes was so much fun. But I wasn't angry at the world. I loved that you could make yourself into a different person." (McCarthy)
On how they met, both times
"When Ben and I became friends at The Groundlings, we figured out that we went to the same parties when I was in college and you were in high school. Two weeks later, you were like, ‘I knew who you were.’"
Falcone: "Exactly, because I did. I remembered!"
McCarthy: "I was like, ‘You would not recognize me in a million years.’ And he goes, ‘No, I was afraid of you.’ I was like Robert Smith from The Cure and Bjork had a baby."