Trivia

Her favorite film is Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987).

Fourth highest-paid actress of 2017 with $18 million.

In January 2019, she was nominated for both Golden Raspberry Awards and Academy Awards in 24 hours.

Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6927 Hollywood Blvd. on 5/19/2015.

Grew up on a farm and loved playing tennis.

Was the second-highest paid actress in 2016, behind Jennifer Lawrence.

Nominated for a 2019 Academy Award in the Best Actress in a leading Role category for her role as Lee Israel in Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) but lost to Olivia Colman for The Favourite (2018).

Worked as a costumer for a dance company in Colorado.

Has 2 daughters: Vivian Falcone (b. May 5, 2007) & Georgette Falcone (b. March 22, 2010) with husband, Ben Falcone.

Is close friends with her former Samantha Who? (2007) co-star Christina Applegate.

Alumni of the improvisational comedy troupe The Groundlings, where she was a member for nearly ten years.

Fan of Billie Eilish whose mother Maggie Baird was her first improv teacher at The Groundlings.

After her first audition, she was told that she was "not the neighbor type".

Is good friends with Octavia Spencer.

Before she became famous, she was hired as an extra in 1996 for The Preacher's Wife (1996). On the day of filming, which took place inside a church, she was wearing a yellow sweater provided by the production. Director Penny Marshall, who was staging the background via monitors, noticed the sweater, which she found distracting, as it was the same color yellow worn by the choir in the scene. Marshall took to the stage and asked the extra to leave due to the wardrobe clash. It wasn't until several years later that Marshall found out that the extra was a then-unknown Melissa McCarthy. Marshall relays the story in a 2013 interview with the Archive of American Television.

Attended and graduated from St. Francis Academy (now Joliet Catholic Academy) in Joliet, IL.

Returned to work three months after giving birth to her daughter Vivian to begin filming the first season of Samantha Who? (2007).

Returned to work four months after giving birth to her daughter Georgette to begin filming the first season of Mike & Molly (2010).

Nominated for the 2019 Golden Globe Award in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama category for her role as Lee Israel in Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018), but lost to Glenn Close for The Wife (2017).

Her paternal grandparents, Michael McCarthy (born Michael Carty) and Ann O'Reilly, were immigrants, both of Irish origin, with roots in County Longford and County Armagh. Her mother is of Irish, German, and English ancestry.

Parents are Michael and Sandra McCarthy.

Cousin of Jenna Perusich.