“I know there’s a different energy you can kind of channel but I always look at the story and the character,” McCarthy says. “I’m a character-actress that’s what compels me and she just never wasn’t a fascinating little challenge to me. I thought if I was around her I would be so compelled and so drawn to her. So you do them differently, but the prep and love of the story and the characters really never changes for me.”
Researching Israel was something else entirely. The biographer was notoriously camera shy and there were few interviews with her. Still, McCarthy was able to track some references down and, of course, there was Israel’s novel that the movie is based on.
“I found three photos that took me forever to find,” McCarthy says. “I kept thinking, ‘Where am I missing all this’ and the more I kind of dove into her and true to Lee’s personality, she didn’t want people to know much about her. She wanted to focus on her writing. It was also prior to people documenting every single moment at the Starbucks line that they’ve ever stood in. I just thought I’d throw that in. We don’t care. That you’re standing in line for Starbucks. O.K.?”
While much of the film chronicles Israel’s descent into criminal forgery she couldn’t pull it off without the help of her unexpected friend Jack Hock played by Richard E. Grant. The “Game of Thrones,” “Logan” and “Gosford Park” star is as coy and wicked in person as many of his characters. Take for instance this recollection of how the role came his way just two months before production.
“I got a call from my agent that said, you have 24 hours to read this script and make a decision. I said ‘Who has dropped out or dropped dead?’ She said ‘That’s not the question you should be asking.’ So, I read it, and I thought it was absolutely amazing,” Grant recalls. “[There was also] sort of a weird deal of a platonic relationship between these two people. There’s a kind of love story and then I said, ‘Who is playing Lee Israel?’ and she said, ‘Well, do you want to do this?’ And I said, ‘yes, I do’. and she said, ‘Well, its Melissa McCarthy,’ and I said, ‘No.’
With perfect timing, McCarthy retorts, “Really?”
Looking flabbergasted, Grant responds, “Wouldn’t you?”
Not to worry, McCarthy and Grant have developed a strong bond and near perfect comedic routine for whatever audience is in front of them. McCarthy’s relationship with Israel’s dearest possession, her cat, was something else completely. Although this particular feline, Town, proved more talented than she expected. Especially during a scene at a veterinarian’s office.
“Cats are great but cats are gonna do what they want to do,” McCarthy says. “So, I had realistic expectations of the cat, and its difficult to work with animals and we’re on the counter and the cat’s supposed to be sick, blah blah, the cat’s perky and looking around and then here’s this scene, and I think [my line was] something like, ‘If she’s come out here and look at it, she’d see the cat was sick’ and cat kind of sneezed and slumped down. And I thought, ‘Oh my god, what the hell is going on!’ “Mari yelled cut and I turned around at the camera and was like, ‘What the hell is going on?! This cat’s like acting!'”
Perhaps when it comes down to it Town was the one really looking for awards recognition.
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” opens in New York and Los Angeles on Friday.