As soon as she gets a break from busting ghosts, Melissa McCarthy is starring in Michelle Darnell, a movie she co-wrote alongside husband Ben Falcone (who directed his wife in Tammy, and will also direct Michelle), based on a character she developed during her time with The Groundlings. That character will be a titan of industry, recently released from prison after serving time for insider trading. Peter Dinklage has already signed on as the villain, and now Kristen Bell and Kathy Bates will be rounding out the supporting cast.
Bates will play McCarthy’s “tough, wealthy, and eccentric mentor,” which doesn’t sound like a stretch given her time playing a tough, wealthy, eccentric mentor on The Office. Bell will play McCarthy’s long-suffering former assistant who has to help restore McCarthy to her former glory. Bell’s character is described as a “mousy single mother who is trying to start a cupcake business,” because the only possible career choices in movies are architect (male), cupcake baker (female), and superhero (either in theory, but let’s be honest, male). We’re not sure if Bell can convincingly be mousy, but we do have faith that she (and Dinklage) will elevate whatever material McCarthy and Falcone put in front of them.