With director Theodore Melfi’s (Hidden Figures, St. Vincent) The Starling now streaming on Netflix, I recently spoke to Melissa McCarthy and Chris O'Dowd about making the dramedy. In the film, McCarthy and O’Dowd play a married couple that are each dealing with the loss of their young child in very different ways. While O’Dowd’s character is dealing with depression and goes to a facility to help him get back on his feet, McCarthy remains at home, trying to overcome her own feelings of loss. As she attempts to plant a garden in the backyard, a starling that has nested nearby begins to harass and attack her and it quickly becomes a battle for control of the lawn. To help her deal with the bird, McCarthy seeks guidance from Larry (Kevin Kline), a quirky psychologist-turned-veterinarian with a troubled past of his own. The Starling also stars Timothy Olyphant, Daveed Diggs, Skyler Gisondo, Loretta Devine, Laura Harrier, Rosalind Chao, and Kimberly Quinn.
Shortly after seeing the film I spoke to Melissa McCarthy and Chris O'Dowd. They talked about how the script changed, getting to work together again after St. Vincent and Bridesmaids, why they were both in the moment and not trying to improvise, why they were excited to have Kevin Kline in the film, and how they get ready when they know they’ve got an emotional scene coming up.
Watch what they had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
Melissa McCarthy and Chris O'Dowd
- How long had they been talking about working together again?
- How the script flipped the roles and why that is better.
- How do they get ready when they know they’ve got a really emotional scene coming up?
- Why they were both in the moment and not trying to improvise.
- What was it like having Kevin Kline in the movie and what was it like working with him?
