Melissa McCarthy is known for her acting ability and her comedic timing. Her latest role is in the live-action version of “The Little Mermaid” which is about to hit theaters. She plays Ursula, the sea witch.
Off screen, McCarthy is anything but a witch. In fact, she goes out of her way to make sure her production company, On the Day, has a positive work environment. She and her husband, Ben Falcone, run the company, and they intentionally made it a place “where everybody gets to have an opinion and everyone is really nice.” In addition, she told The Observer that being kind isn’t optional at her company. In fact, it’s required. McCarthy explained that everything goes “a lot better with no screamers or crazy egos bumbling around.”
McCarthy knows a thing or two about what it’s like to work on a production where kindness is not required. In fact, she talked about one production that was such a “hostile” work environment that it made her “physically ill.” She didn’t give the name of the production company or the project, but she did explain what it was like being on set.
McCarthy shared that one person in particular was so unpleasant to be around that multiple people ended up in tears. She said, “There were people weeping, visibly so upset by this one person.” She added, “And I think that’s why the manipulation worked, because to get to me, this person would fire people I loved, which kept me quiet. It was very effective.”
She was determined to never “stay quiet” again, and she was also determined to make sure her own company was free of people who are “crazy.” She said that there’s a “crazy check” before hiring anyone at their company.
While McCarthy doesn’t want to work with anyone who is “crazy,” she does enjoy playing some crazy characters. In the video below, enjoy a sneak peak of McCarthy as Ursula in the new “The Little Mermaid” movie.
Have you ever worked in a hostile work environment? How do you think McCarthy goes about conducting a “crazy check” before hiring someone?