Melissa McCarthy details her family’s “weird” holiday tradition.Photo: Tiffany Rose/Getty
Holidays at Melissa McCarthy’s house are just as silly as you would imagine.
McCarthytoldSavannah Guthrieabout her unconventional Christmas Eve traditions on Wednesday’s episode ofToday.
“Every Christmas Eve, we’ve done it for a decade, we do a weird meatball party,”The Little Mermaidstar, 53, said lightheartedly.
“Oh, the traditional meatball party!” the news host laughed.
“We have everybody over, we make sandwiches, we watch all ofThe Lord of the Rings,” she explained of her holiday plans, adding that they watch the extended versions of the fantasy movies because one of her daughters,Georgie, 13, and husbandBen Falcone“demand it.” (McCarthy and Falcone also share daughter Vivian, 16.)
The mother of two joked that “watching things ooze up from [Middle] Earth” is how her family gets into the holiday spirit. TheGilmore Girlsalum says that she’s not only flexible about the themes of Christmas movies but also the timing.
“I’m a sucker for a Christmas movie,” she said, admitting that she sometimes watches them year round.
Paapa Essiedu and Melissa McCarthy star in the upcoming holiday movie ‘Genie’.Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures
McCarthy explained that her character has been locked in a box for 2,000 years which makes for “that fun, fish out of water” storyline.
“I don’t know what hand sanitizer is, I don’t know what pizza is,” she explained to Guthrie. “Everything is magical and mystical to me and I do a lot of things wrong.”
Genie’s writerRichard Curtis, who also wrote classic romantic comedies likeLove Actually,Four Weddings and a FuneralandBridget Jones’s Diary, told PEOPLE that he “couldn’t believe” McCarthy would play the lead role.
“I’ve actually got a photograph of me sitting in a chair receiving the phone call whenJulia Robertssaid yes toNotting Hill,” Curtis, 67 said. “Because we’d offered it to her and we thought, ‘That’s never going to happen.’ And it was a bit the same with Melissa.”
Genieis available to stream on Peacock now.
source: people.com
