Off Track?

Back in 2009 I began a series of posts about actors whose movie careers seemed to be on the skids. The series, Getting Back On Track, did not last long, just a few posts featuring Jude Law and Renée Zellweger. My list of regular features was starting to get very long and I questioned whether this theme fit the focus of the blog. I decided to drop it as a regular feature, but can't help but think of the 'off track' metaphor lately when looking at the career of actress Melissa McCarthy.

Below: With Bradley Cooper

Now some of you might be thinking I'm crazy! McCarthy is in many ways at the height of her career, a CBS sit-com, major motion pictures, hosting SNL, awards and acclaim, but somehow it feels she is also about to skid off the tracks. I was first introduced to McCarthy on one of my all time favorite shows Gilmore Girls.

GG gave most of it's supporting cast small moments to shine, but the show was focused so squarely on the relationships between the Gilmore mother/daughter combo, McCarthy, like the rest of the supporting cast, often got sadly pushed to the sidelines. The one thing that I loved about McCarthy's character Sookie was how normal she was. In the first season she was written a little goofy and clumsy, but once the writers got it out of their system, Sookie was just a regular quirky member of Stars Hollow. She was the chef at the Inn, Lorelai's best friend, wife and mother. I don't remember Sookie ever being the 'dumb' one, the wack job and especially never the 'fat' one.

Below: With Gilmore Girls co-stars Kelly Bishop and Keiko Agena

Since Bridesmaides however, McCarthy seems to have dove head first into being the 'one'. On Mike & Molly, although her character is many great things, she began as the 'fat' one. In movies she seems to always be cast as the big, crazy, goofy, silly or nutty one. Instead of building a career playing interesting character parts or supporting roles, McCarthy went straight to star and the roles have sadly not equaled her amazing talent. Whenever a successful television actress jumps into movies, (think Jennifer Aniston, Katherine Heigl) rarely do they find roles that allows them to shine as they did on television. This is because these women seem to believe the hype that they are now stars, instead of putting faith into to the fact viewers grew to love them because of their skill at creating an incredible character on the television show they had left.

Mike & Molly

Melissa McCarthy may not physically have left her television show, yet, but emotionally, she already seems long gone. It has been painfully clear her energy is no longer in the show. She looks tired, her voice strained from constant work, and her acting shows a lack of energy and care about the character that helped her achieve her fame. The show still works, even with McCarthy often absent, both physically and emotionally, because her co-stars work overtime making up for the lack of energy from their lead actress. Is McCarthy's career on the skids, nah, is it at risk, oh yeah. If McCarthy doesn't stop playing goofball sidekicks in movies, audiences are going to tire quickly. How To Fix It: Focus on the television show that won you an EMMY and slow down on the movie roles. Your next film role should be a small one, a character part in a drama to show your more than just the (insert goofy adjective here) one.