Melissa McCarthy Responds to Question About Her ‘Tremendous Size’

Melissa McCarthy recently spoke out about the time a film interviewer asked a question concerning her “tremendous size.”

The actress recently sat down for an interview with In Style and opened up about the awkward encounter that took place while she was doing press for her Oscar-nominated role in Bridesmaids.

“I do remember another interview I did for Bridesmaids with somebody who later lost his job for a conversation he had on a bus with someone else. I won’t mention names, but just think about it,” she said. “He kept asking, ‘Are you shocked that you actually work in this business at your tremendous size?’ “

McCarthy’s implication here seems to be that the interviewer in question was former TODAY co-host Billy Bush, who was fired after a 2005 Access Hollywood recording of he and former reality star, Donald Trump surfaced and featured the now-American President saying some things that many found offensive. However, she does not explicitly name the person in question.

“He was like, ‘Oh, your tremendous size, you can actually work?’ I just remember all the blood drained out of me. I thought, ‘With my tremendous size, I could tackle you so quickly.’ There were two cameras on him, and one was on me, and he went back to that question three or four times, and I just kept talking about the script or how fun [Bridesmaids director] Paul Feig was,” she went on to say.

“He was looking around like, ‘She’s crazy.’ When we left, their producer was horrified and said, ‘We’ll never play what he said. I’m so sorry.’ But it happens all the time, to the point where it’s fascinating because they don’t do it to men,” McCarthy added. “Not to be a jerk or single him out, but when John Goodman was heavier, did anybody ever talk about his girth?”

The Life of the Party actress then explained that being a mother to two girls gives her a different perspective on situations like this.

“Having two daughters [Vivian, 11; and Georgette, 8], I think there is a weird layer in the world [for women] where it’s not just about looks but it’s also, ‘Are you pleasant? Do you not make trouble?’ I don’t want to be around someone who’s a pain in the ass and confrontational, but I also don’t think that you always have to be Stepford Wife-y and can’t have opinions,” McCarthy stated.

McCarthy can currently been seen in the dramedy biopic Can You Ever Forgive Me?, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in the Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama category.

Whether McCarthy will pick up a nomination for the Academy Awards this year is yet to be seen. The Oscar nominations will be announced Jan. 22.