Joan Rivers may be gone, but her legacy lives on. The late comedienne died at age 81 late last week, and scores of A-list funnywomen have spoken out about the impact the Fashion Police star had on their careers.
One such actress is Mike & Molly star Melissa McCarthy, who spoke about Rivers’ influence at the Toronto Film Festival premiere of her new comedy, St. Vincent, on Friday, Sept. 5.
“When I was 20, and I came to New York, she was doing a talk show [The Joan Rivers Show], that's who I wanted to see. I just wanted to be in a room with her!” McCarthy, 44, revealed. “She came out after the talk show and answered questions, and she was so nice to me.”
It wasn’t just Rivers’ kindness that inspired McCarthy. It was also her fearless on-stage nature and natural charisma.
“Growing up, the women on SNL and Joan Rivers were the first women I was like, ‘She's up there, she's writing this material, she doesn't care, she's bold,’” the Emmy winner continued. “Her attitude was, ‘I’m going to say what I want, and if you don't like it, too damn bad.’ It stuck with me. I knew even as a little kid, she's controlling that, those are her thoughts, and she's doing what she loves. Joan is a huge inspiration to me.”
McCarthy costars with comedy legend Bill Murray in the already buzzed-about St. Vincent, and has also drawn inspiration from him.
“He was in my very short list of people that I never thought I'd get a chance to work with, and I had such a nice time doing it,” she dished. “Bill is the funniest person ever, I freaked out everyday on set. It was a dream come true.”
St. Vincent also stars Naomi Watts, Chris O’Dowd, and Terrence Howard and hits theaters nationwide on Oct. 24.