All the Amazing, Empowering Things Melissa McCarthy Has Said

Melissa McCarthy did it again. She recently gave another candid, awesome interview, this time with People magazine, and left us with some inspiring nuggets of wisdom.

“I’m completely delighted by people who think, ‘I don’t care what anybody else thinks, I look great in this, and I rock it and I love it.’ It’s such a delightful sort of confidence,” she said.

She also addressed a recent article that referenced her as “America’s plus-size sweetheart.”

“It’s like I’m managing to achieve all this success in spite of my affliction,” McCarthy said. “Would you ever put that in the headline for a male star?”

She’s right. There’s no way a man would be subjected to that narrow-minded label. But it takes a certain measure of bravery and eloquence to call out the entertainment industry on it’s B.S. without alienating people. And McCarthy does it on the regular.

Here are some other times Melissa McCarthy brought the girl power!

“Even when someone gets to looking like she should be so proud of herself, instead she’s like, ‘I could be another three pounds less; I could be a little taller and have bigger lips.’ Where does it end? You just have to say, ‘It’s pretty damn good. I am right here at the moment and I’m OK with it. I’ve got other things to think about.’” —The Hollywood Reporter

“There’s a greatness in not caring what people think.” —Ladies Home Journal

“I’ve never been interested in playing the boring ingenue.” —Good Housekeeping

“Everything about [Bridesmaids] seemed rare to me. It seemed rare to have characters that were female that weren’t stereotypes and were actually funny. So often you see female characters that are, you know, all fighting about nail polish! I’m like, well, I’ve never done that in my life, I don’t know any women that do that—God bless them if they do. Yeah, it’s like they’re all single women for the most part—of course there’s a sexual side to you.” —Time Out

“At 20, I would have been like: ‘Don’t they like me? Was it my hair?’ At 41, I think the things that define me, I hope, are a lot more than those kinds of petty things.” —The Hollywood Reporter

“A lot of times, women have had all their tools taken away (in Hollywood comedies). It’s like you’re never inappropriate, you have the greatest job, you look great, your hair is amazing, and now go be funny. And it’s like, with what? You have to fall down for us to want to watch you get back up. And it’s like they never let you watch women fall down.” —Elle

And then, of course, there’s this: