Oscar hopeful “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” has come and gone at the box office, but our interviews with the cast were just so good, we had to share more. So as we head into award season, we’re chatting with Melissa McCarthy about how she was in her comfort zone in the movie.
Melissa McCarthy (as Lee Israel): “Quite by accident, I find myself in a rather criminal position.”
Richard E. Grant (as Jack Holt): “What criminal activity could possibly involve you? Except a crime of fashion, of course.”
Melissa McCarthy (as Lee Israel): “I’m embellishing literary letters by prominent writers.”
In “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” Melissa McCarthy plays Lee Israel, a down-on-her-luck author who stumbles on a less-than-legal way to make some big bucks.
Melissa was on board as soon as she read the script.
Melissa McCarthy: “Even though she was doing everything to make you not like her, I kind of fell in love with her right away.”
Richard E. Grant is Jack Holt, a charming grifter who winds up as Lee’s partner-in-crime.
Richard E. Grant: “Never had a proper job, charms and scams his way through Manhattan.”
The third star of the movie, one you won’t see in the credits, is Manhattan in the 1990s.
Jane Curtin (as Marjorie): “Nobody is going to pay for the writer Lee Israel right now.”
Melissa literally felt right at home during filming.
Melissa McCarthy: “I moved here at 20 in 1990, and I was here ’til 1997, so to me, that’s my New York.”
Shooting on location in the middle of winter wasn’t exactly a day at the beach.
Richard E. Grant: “All the stars aligned for the making of this movie, which was a 28-day shoot out of six weeks in Manhattan in January last year. It was freezing cold.”
Recreating the Big Apple from a quarter-century ago was quite an accomplishment, from the director on down.
Melissa McCarthy: “And I just felt like it was a magical time, and to get that back in this movie, which I think Marielle Heller magically did, because that New York is only left in little bitty slivers and side glances.”
The scenes of Lee selling her forged letters drive the film.
Melissa McCarthy (as Lee Israel): “I brought some wonderful Faulkners that I unearthed.”
The authenticity isn’t accidental.
Melissa McCarthy: “So many of those bookstores were the real stores that Lee sold her letters at.”
Making “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” put Melissa in a New York state of mind.
Melissa McCarthy: “And it was kind of surreal and really helpful as an actress to be in the actual places and to feel what the city really felt like back then.”
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” is set to be released on DVD and Blu-ray in early 2019.