The pair both had roles in Bridesmaids (2011), and under their production company On the Day Productions, produced movies like Tammy (2014), The Boss (2016), Happytime Murders (2018) and Life of the Party (2018). More recently, the couple starred in Netflix’s series God’s Favorite Idiot (2022), an apocalyptic comedy created by Falcone.

Earning the fourth spot in Forbes’s highest-paid actresses in 2023, McCarthy is known for roles in TV shows like The Gilmore Girls (2000-2007) and Mike and Molly (2010-2016). On the big screen, she’s performed in movies like The Heat (2013), The Spy (2015), Ghostbusters (2016) and Can You Ever Forgive Me? an Oscar-nominated role where she played a down-and-out author who forges letters from deceased authors. And, in 2023, McCarthy is showcasing her musical chops as Ursula, the villainous sea witch in Disney’s live-action film The Little Mermaid.

Adding to her portfolio of accolades, McCarthy, now 52, was named in 2016 by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and in 2020, The New York Times appointed her as #22 on its 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century.

McCarthy and Falcone are not your average Hollywood couple, and their silliness is endearing. In 2019, the couple wore matching Adidas tracksuits paired with sneakers to the Vanity Fair Oscars after-party. “I’m sure it threw everybody into a tizzy because the idea came to me the day before the Oscars,” a decision McCarthy said received mixed reviews.

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Joking about her fashion choices, told Entertainment Tonight, “It’s not (less glamorous) to me guys, I’ve doubled my diamonds–I feel great.”

One thing people might not know is that McCarthy is the cousin of Jenny McCarthy, an actress, model and TV personality. In 2013, Jenny lashed out in defense of McCarthy after film critic Rex Reed slammed her cousin in a review of Identity Thief, referring to her as a “tractor-sized Melissa McCarthy” and a “gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success.”

Ben Falcone (L) and Melissa McCarthy attend the Viacom Winter TCA Panels and Party on January 13, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Joshua Blanchard/Getty Images for Viacom)

Jenny told E! News, “That’s obnoxious in itself. For anyone to attack like that, it’s just wrong and hurtful, and it doesn’t do anyone any good…” She added, “She’s very very talented and people know that, so…He can go to hell.”

Rated high on the scale for her acting skills, McCarthy graciously dismisses judgments about her ever-changing weight.

In 2016, McCarthy spoke with Refinery29 about her dropping some weight for her role in The Boss, a script she wrote with Falcone, who also directs. “I have, but I’ll be back again. I’ll be up, I’ll be down, probably for the rest of my life. The thing is, if that is the most interesting thing about me, I need to go have a lavender farm in Minnesota and give this up.”

She continued, “There has to be something more. There are so many more intriguing things about women than their butt or their this or their that. It can’t be the first question every time, or a question at all…Can you imagine them asking some of these guys I work with, ‘How do you keep your butt looking so good?’”