Actress Melissa McCarthy's weight was an issue for movie critic Rex Reed, who called the actress "tractor-sized" when she starred in "Identity Thief." But it's not an issue for McCarthy, she tells More magazine in the July/August issue, on newsstands June 25.
"I've been every size in the world," she said. "Parts of my twenties, I was in great shape, but I didn't appreciate it. If I was a 6 or an 8, I thought, 'Why aren't I a 2 or a 4'?
But McCarthy can see beyond dress sizes to realize how lucky she is -- with a happy marriage to writer-actor Ben Falcone, two young daughters, and a lively movie career. And she hears from fans, some in the field themselves, who may not be a size zero.
"The letters I really love are from young actresses who were worried they had to fit a certain look," she tells the magazine. "They say I've opened it up. And I don't just mean plus-size girls. You can push things now. With all the great performances in 'Bridesmaids,' it changed how people see funny women."
McCarthy stars with Sandra Bullock in "The Heat," a rare buddy comedy that involves two women, not men. She says that a scene in which she sticks a straw up Bullock's nose to dislodge a peanut helped the two bond.
"But the peanut was so far up," McCarthy remembers. "I was nervous for Sandy that something was going to go terribly wrong and we're gonna end up in a hospital. I was literally up her sinus cavity. It was a very bonding moment. After that, you're friends for life."
"The Heat" opens June 28.