Director Paul Feig Thinks Melissa McCarthy Swears Like An Artist

Paul Feig made his directorial debut via the beloved sitcom "Freaks and Geeks," which he also created. The program ran from 1999 to 2000, and three years after it concluded, he was ready to sit in the director's chair for a feature film. 2003's "I Am David" served as Feig's first outing as a movie director, and it paved the way for him to helm numerous iconic features afterward. In doing so, he'd get to work with numerous actors, but of them all, one stands out as his most prolific collaborator: Melissa McCarthy.

Feig and McCarthy's first pairing came in 2011 for the comedy "Bridesmaids," and evidently, they hit it off while working on the feature. In the years that followed, they'd work together on the likes of "The Heat," "Spy," and the definitely well-received and not-at-all-controversial "Ghostbusters" from 2016. For the most part, their efforts have proven successful critically and financially, and on the road to finding such tremendous prosperity, Feig and McCarthy have gotten to know one another very well.

For instance, one of the things that genre deconstructor Paul Feig has come to learn about Melissa McCarthy is that she swears like an artist. Here's what he means by this interesting claim.

On November 14, 2022, Paul Feig was a guest on the "About Last Night" podcast hosted by Adam Ray. During the chat, they got on the topic of "The Heat" — a film that Feig directed and Ray featured in as Hank LeSoire, alongside Melissa McCarthy as Shannon Mullins. From there, they got on the topic of swearing since, like most adult comedies, the language used in "The Heat" is rather colorful. Feig revealed that the F-bomb is his favorite curse to use, and in his mind, there's a certain art to swearing that most people don't consider despite using such terms on a daily basis.

Feig referred to cursing as a "great release," but it's not something that everyone can do so effortlessly and naturally. He then claims that McCarthy is one of the best people he's ever heard use swear words throughout his time working with her. "Some people...it just is jarring, it feels weird. But the people who can, like Melissa, it's just like, they're like a jazz artist. You're just like, 'Oh man, come on, keep it coming,'" he told Ray. Truth be told, if you've ever heard McCarthy utilize such terms (let's be honest, in most of her movies, she does), it's hard to disagree that she has a knack for it.

It has been a few years since Paul Feig and Melissa McCarthy have worked together, so one can only hope that will change soon. If and when it does, don't be surprised if we hear more of McCarthy's unconventional form of artistic expression.