Who ya gonna call?
For ELLE's first Women in Comedy issue, the answer was clear: Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Melissa McCarthy, as they unite forces in the most anticipated comedy of the year, Ghostbusters—in theaters July 15.
In this special issue, Will Ferrell fulfills his investigative reporting dreams by interviewing Kristen Wiig; Melissa McCarthy talks to her old friend, shoe designer Brian Atwood, about being a real Hollywood boss lady; Leslie Jones talks being funny and getting noticed on her road to success; and Kate McKinnon reveals that she is, in fact, Justin Bieber.
Pick-up the July issue of ELLE, on newsstands June 21, to read their exclusive cover stories and check out a sneak peek at what they had to say below...
Melissa McCarthy on fighting for the characters she plays, interviewed by Brian Atwood
Brian Atwood: "You're having a ball. What is it about your comedy that makes people really get it?"
Melissa McCarthy: "I get so psychotically attached to all of my characters, and I fight for them in probably the most annoying way. I hear myself saying to Ben or Paul [Feig], "She wouldn't phrase it that way." I know it's such an actory thing, but I feel it to my core: I have to represent the woman I'm getting to be. Even if she's fictitious, she's always real to me: three-dimensional, flawed, loving, screwed-up, as real women are."
Kate McKinnon on being Bieber, interviewed by Lizzy Goodman:
"I came to a reckoning that [pretending to be other people] is in fact such a real, huge chunk of the way I communicate. I thought it was something I was putting on to disguise something else, but it's not." So, what she's saying is that in real life McKinnon is, in fact, Justin Bieber?, Goodman writes. "That is what I am telling you, yes."
Leslie Jones on being funny, interviewed by Ben Dickinson
"I just knew that I was funny, and I knew that it was just a matter of time. I didn't know what was going to actually happen—this is definitely way bigger than I thought—but I knew there was no way I was going to be that funny and nobody was going to notice it."
Kristen Wiig on being terrified on SNL, interviewed by Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell: "So, Saturday Night Live. What was the first thing you got to do on the show? Was it all almost too enormous to be nervous?"
Kristen Wiig: "My very first show I got on something that I wrote. I was weirdly less nervous for that than I was for the first sketch I was in, which was about someone being pregnant in their butt. I think it was Poehler, and we had a baby shower for her and –"
WF: "God, that's good."
KW: "I was scared that I was going to freeze or swear or pass out."
All photos: Mark Seliger
Styled by: Samira Nasr
Cover Fashion Credits:
KRISTEN WIIG: Jacket and trousers by Marc Jacobs, Bra by Morgan Lane, Earrings by Chopard, Ring by Ana Khouri.
KATE McKINNON: Blazer and trousers by Dolce & Gabbana, Earrings by Nirav Modi, Choker by Anita Ko, Necklace and rings by Cartier, Sandals by Gianvito Rossi.
LESLIE JONES: Gown by Sophie Theallet, Bra by Triumph, Earrings by Chopard, Sandals by Stuart Weitzman.
MELISSA McCARTHY: Blouse and skirt by Prabal Gurung, Earrings by Martin Katz, Bracelets by Kimberly McDonald.
Inside Photos Fashion Credits:
KRISTEN WIIG: Shirt by Miu Miu, Bra by Araks, Earrings, necklace, rings by Harry Winston, Boots by Giuseppe Zanotti Design.
KATE MCKINNON: Coat by Calvin Klein Collection, Earrings by Chanel Fine Jewelry.
LESLIE JONES: Dress by Dolce & Gabbana, Earrings and bracelet by Pomellato, Bracelet by John Hardy.
MELISSA MCCARTHY: Dress by Versace, Earrings by De Grisogono, Pumps by Brian Atwood.
