The Groundlings is an American improvisational and sketch comedy troupe and school based in Los Angeles, California. The troupe was formed by Gary Austin in 1974 and uses an improv format influenced by Viola Spolin, whose improvisational theater techniques were taught by Del Close and other members of the Second City, located in Chicago and later St. Louis. They used these techniques to produce sketches and improvised scenes. Its name is taken from Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act III, Scene II: "...to split the ears of the groundlings, who for the most part are capable of nothing but inexplicable dumbshows and noise." In 1975 the troupe purchased and moved into its current location on Melrose Avenue.
Peter Hayden Dinklage is an American actor best known for portraying Tyrion Lannister on the HBO television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019), for which he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series a record four times. He also received a Golden Globe Award in 2011 and a Screen Actors Guild Award in 2020 for the role. Dinklage has a common form of dwarfism known as achondroplasia and stands 4 ft 5 in (1.35 m) tall. He has used his celebrity status to raise social awareness of dwarfism.
Melissa Ann McCarthy is an American actress, screenwriter, producer, and fashion designer. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards, and nominations for two Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. McCarthy was named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2016, and she has been featured multiple times in annual rankings of the highest-paid actresses in the world. In 2020, The New York Times ranked her #22 in its list of the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.
The Station Agent is a 2003 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tom McCarthy in his directorial debut. It stars Peter Dinklage as a man who seeks solitude in an abandoned train station in the Newfoundland section of Jefferson Township, New Jersey. It also stars Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams, Bobby Cannavale and John Slattery. For his writing achievement, McCarthy won the BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay and the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. The film itself also won the John Cassavetes Award.
Annie Mumolo is an American screenwriter, actress, comedian, and producer, best known for co-writing the 2011 film Bridesmaids with Kristen Wiig, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award and a BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay. She and Wiig also co-wrote the screenplay and played leading roles for the 2021 comedy film Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar. She has also appeared in films such as This Is 40 (2012), Afternoon Delight (2013), The Boss (2016), Bad Moms (2016), Queenpins (2020), and Confess, Fletch (2022).
Bridesmaids is a 2011 American comedy film directed by Paul Feig, written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, and produced by Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, and Clayton Townsend. The story centers on Annie, who suffers a series of misfortunes after being asked to serve as maid of honor for her best friend Lillian. The film also stars Rose Byrne, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, and Chris O'Dowd.
The Heat is a 2013 American buddy cop action comedy film directed by Paul Feig and written by Katie Dippold. It stars Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy with Demián Bichir, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rapaport and Jane Curtin in supporting roles. The film centers on FBI Special Agent Sarah Ashburn and Boston Detective Shannon Mullins, who must take down a mobster in Boston.
Identity Thief is a 2013 American road comedy film directed by Seth Gordon, written by Craig Mazin from a story by Mazin and Jerry Eeten, and starring Jason Bateman and Melissa McCarthy. The film tells the fictional story of Sandy Patterson, a man whose identity is stolen by a female con artist. After the police told him that it will take up to a year to solve the case, Sandy embarks on a cross-country road trip to find her and clear his name.
Tammy is a 2014 American road comedy film directed and co-written by Ben Falcone and produced, co-written by, and starring Melissa McCarthy as the title character. The film also stars Susan Sarandon, Allison Janney, Gary Cole, Mark Duplass, Nat Faxon, Toni Collette, Sandra Oh, with Dan Aykroyd, and Kathy Bates. The film tells the story of a woman named Tammy who hits the road with her profane, alcoholic grandmother after finding out her husband is cheating. Tammy was released in theaters on July 2, 2014.
Spy is a 2015 American spy action comedy film written and directed by Paul Feig. It stars Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, and Jude Law, with Miranda Hart, Bobby Cannavale, Peter Serafinowicz, Morena Baccarin, Nargis Fakhri, and Allison Janney appearing in supporting roles. The film follows unorthodox secret agent Susan Cooper (McCarthy) as she tries to trace a stolen portable nuclear device.
Peter Dinklage is an American actor and producer. He studied acting at the Bennington College where he starred in a number of amateur stage productions. He made his film debut in the 1995 comedy-drama Living in Oblivion. After appearing in a series of supporting parts in much of the 1990s and early 2000s, he made his breakthrough by starring in the Tom McCarthy-directed comedy-drama The Station Agent (2003), which had him play a railroad-obsessed introvert who inherits an abandoned train depot. He was cast in the role by director Tom McCarthy who recalled fondly his appearance in McCarthy's play The Killing Act (1995). For his performance, he received a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Best Actor and an Independent Spirit Awards nomination for Best Male Lead. In the same year, Dinklage played the title role in the play Richard III at The Public Theater. He also played a children's book author in the comedy Elf. In 2006, he appeared in the Sidney Lumet-directed crime film Find Me Guilty. He followed with roles in the films Underdog (2007), the British film Death at a Funeral (2007), with its American remake of the same name (2010) and Trumpkin in the high fantasy film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008).
The Happytime Murders is a 2018 American adult puppet buddy cop crime comedy film directed by Brian Henson and written by Todd Berger from a story by Berger and Dee Austin Robertson. The film stars Melissa McCarthy, Bill Barretta, Joel McHale, Maya Rudolph, Leslie David Baker, and Elizabeth Banks. Set in a world where humans and living puppets co-exist, the film follows a puppet private investigator and a human police detective who must solve a murder spree of retired sitcom stars.
Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a 2018 American biographical film directed by Marielle Heller, with a screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty based on the 2008 confessional memoir of the same name by Lee Israel. Melissa McCarthy stars as Israel, and the story follows her attempts to revitalize her failing writing career by forging letters from deceased authors and playwrights. The film also features Richard E. Grant, Dolly Wells, Jane Curtin, Anna Deavere Smith, Stephen Spinella, and Ben Falcone in supporting roles. Israel took the title from an apologetic line in a letter in which she posed as Dorothy Parker.
Life of the Party is a 2018 American comedy film directed by Ben Falcone and written by Falcone and Melissa McCarthy. The film, starring McCarthy and Molly Gordon, follows a newly divorced mother who returns to college to complete her degree, and ends up bonding with her daughter's friends.
Isabella Amara is an American actress and singer. She gained attention for her role as Sally Avril in the films Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). She also became known for her role in the television series Queen America (2018–19).
Nobodies is an American comedy television series created by Hugh Davidson, Larry Dorf and Rachel Ramras, and produced by Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy. The series also starred Davidson, Dorf and Ramras. The series premiered on TV Land on March 29, 2017. The second season premiered on Paramount Network on March 29, 2018. On June 23, 2018, Nobodies was cancelled after two seasons by TV Land.
The Kitchen is a 2019 American crime film written and directed by Andrea Berloff in her directorial debut. It is based on the DC/Vertigo Comics limited series of the same name by Ollie Masters and Ming Doyle. The film stars Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish, and Elisabeth Moss as the wives of Irish American mobsters who take over organized crime operations in New York's Hell's Kitchen in the late 1970s, after the FBI arrests their husbands. The film also features Domhnall Gleeson, James Badge Dale, Brian d'Arcy James, Jeremy Bobb, Margo Martindale, Common, and Bill Camp in supporting roles.
Superintelligence is a 2020 American romantic action comedy film directed by Ben Falcone and written by Steve Mallory. The film stars Melissa McCarthy in her fourth collaboration with her husband, Falcone.
Thunder Force is a 2021 American superhero comedy film written and directed by Ben Falcone, and starring Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer, Bobby Cannavale, Pom Klementieff, Taylor Mosby, with Melissa Leo, and Jason Bateman. It is the fifth collaboration between McCarthy and her husband Falcone, and follows two childhood friends who invent a way to become superheroes in a world where criminals have developed superpowers.
God's Favorite Idiot is an American religious apocalyptic workplace comedy television series created by and starring Ben Falcone for Netflix. The series was supposed to consist of sixteen episodes, and the first batch of eight episodes premiered on June 15, 2022. As of April 2022, the production of the remaining eight episodes is in limbo.
