Actress Melissa McCarthy smiles for the cameras on the red carpet Sunday night before being presented the prestigious Montecito Award by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. 
Actress Melissa McCarthy signs autographs on the red carpet Sunday night before being presented the prestigious Montecito Award by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. 
Actress Melissa McCarthy is interviewed by Indie Wire editor-at-large Anne Thompson Sunday night at the Arlington Theatre 
Actress Melissa McCarthy arrives at the Arlington Theatre. 
Actor Richard E. Grant on the red carpet at the Arlington Theatre.
Emmy Award winning and Academy nominated actress Melissa McCarthy was presented the prestigious Montecito Award by the Santa Barbara International Film Festival Sunday night for her starring role in the critically acclaimed feature 'Can You Ever Forgive Me?', a Fox Searchlight Pictures release.
Her co-star in the film, Richard E. Grant, presented the honor following an hour-plus insightful and humorous Q & A moderated by Indie Wire editor-at-large Anne Thompson at the Arlington Theatre.
Presented to a person in the entertainment industry who has made a great contribution to film, the Montecito Award has previously been given to Saoirse Ronan, Isabelle Huppert, Sylvester Stallone, Daniel Day Lewis, Julianne Moore, and Javier Bardem among others.
McCarthy has received an Academy Award nomination for the movie “Bridesmaids” and received BAFTA, Critics’ Choice, and SAG Award nominations for this role while winning the MTV Movie Award for comedic performance of the year.
Currently starring in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”, she recently appeared in “Life of the Party” (which she co-wrote and produced with husband Ben Falcone, who also directed).
Her films include “The Boss”, “Spy”, “St. Vincent”, “Tammy”, “The Heat”, “Identity Thief”, “This is 40”, “The Hangover Part III” and “Ghostbusters”.
Under cloudy skies and a light sprinkle of rain, McCarthy arrived on the Arlington’s red carpet dressed in a long black-sequined paneled dress with silver heels. She received a rousing standing ovation when she took the stage.
She observed that growing up on her father’s corn and soybean farm in Plainfield, Illinois, helped her learn to use her imagination.
“Our nearest neighbor lived far away, so my siblings and I had to find ways to entertain ourselves,” she recalled. “My parents were funny. My dad could tell the same story 15 times and I still couldn’t stop laughing at them. Then I learned to sew, create costumes, and dress in all sorts of ways. I could dress funk and become a totally different person than a farm girl.”
College didn’t quite agree with McCarthy, so she moved to Colorado where her sister lived. She continued to make costumes for theater productions.
Then she moved to New York and started doing stand-up comedy the day after she arrived.
“I didn’t like stand up because of all the heckling,” she said. “There was always one lonely guy in the room who was loud and rude. I thought I needed to understand more about acting and the business, so I started acting lessons.”
Later she moved to Los Angeles, where she became part of The Groundlings, an improvisational and sketch comedy troupe. She made a number of TV and movie appearances before making her big breakthrough as Sookie in Gilmore Girls (2000), leading up to her starring role in the television sitcom “Mike & Molly” (2010), for which she won a Lead Actress Comedy Emmy Award.
“I grew up with funny and interesting women, and my friends are funny, interesting women,” she said. “I like eccentric people who make a statement and are telling their story.”
Upon accepting the Montecito Award at the end of the program, McCarthy said, “Thank you to this film festival for shining a light on movies that show people with flaws and how they deal with them and overcome them.”
“The odds of me becoming an actor were so slim from where I came from. This is so special. Thank you.”
About the Santa Barbara International Film Festival
The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts and educational organization.
Over the past 32 years, SBIFF has become one of the leading film festivals in the United States – attracting 90,000 attendees and offering 11 days of 200+ films, tributes and panels, fulfilling their mission to engage, enrich, and inspire people through the power of film.
For more information, and to purchase tickets, festival passes and packages visit www.sbiff.org.
