Melissa McCarthy Recalls Being Confused for Amy Schumer: 'What a Compliment'
Apparently Melissa McCarthy is a dead ringer for Amy Schumer.
On Monday, the Oscar-nominated actress, 49, visited The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she discussed a previous prank that she participated in for the talk show. For the hidden-camera stunt, McCarthy pretended to faint at a local dry cleaner — and one Good Samaritan calling for help mistook her for a certain blonde comedian.
“What I heard right before [they called] 911 was: ‘Amy Schumer’s gone down! Amy Schumer’s on the ground!'” recalled McCarthy. “And I was like, ‘Hey!'”
She added: “She called me Amy Schumer — which to me was my favorite part, what a compliment — but she called me Amy Schumer four or five times.”
McCarthy also joked that the strangers would probably like the 38-year-old Trainwreck star “so much better.”
“She actually did say she knew it was you but she just kept calling you Amy Schumer even though she — no, she knew it was you,” said host DeGeneres, 62, who caught up with the woman after the prank aired in September.
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Though the two actresses have never done a movie together, McCarthy did make a surprise appearance during an episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Schumer in May 2018.
In 2016, McCarthy seemingly came to the defense of Schumer amid controversy at the time of the comedian’s inclusion in an issue of Glamour about plus-size women.
Though she didn’t mention Schumer or the magazine directly, the Bridesmaids star shared her input on the debate.
“We have to stop categorizing and judging women based on their bodies,” McCarthy wrote on Instagram at the time. “We are teaching young girls to strive for unattainable perfection instead of feeling healthy and happy in their own skin.”
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McCarthy — who recently began rehearsals to play Ursula in Disney’s upcoming live-action Little Mermaid movie — is set to host NBC’s Little Big Shots next month, taking over for Steve Harvey.
“I wanted to be a part of Little Big Shots because I wanted to help shine the light on these remarkable kids,” McCarthy said in a PEOPLE-exclusive preview last month. “One of the many remarkable things that we get to witness on Little Big Shots is all of these kids being exactly who they are … doing things differently and absolutely just being the best versions of themselves.”
She added: “It is absolutely an inspiration.”
