'Ghostbusters' Stars Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, and Kate McKinnon Cover ELLE's July 2016 Issue
Who ya gonna call?
For ELLE's first Women in Comedy issue, the answer was clear: Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Melissa McCarthy, as they unite forces in the most anticipated comedy of the year, Ghostbusters-in theaters July 15.
In this special issue, Will Ferrell fulfills his investigative reporting dreams by interviewing Kristen Wiig; Melissa McCarthy talks to her old friend, shoe designer Brian Atwood, about being a real Hollywood boss lady; Leslie Jones talks being funny and getting noticed on her road to success; and Kate McKinnon reveals that she is, in fact, Justin Bieber.
Pick-up the July issue of ELLE, on newsstands June 21, to read their exclusive cover stories and check out a sneak peek at what they had to say below...
Melissa McCarthy on fighting for the characters she plays, interviewed by Brian Atwood
Brian Atwood: "You're having a ball. What is it about your comedy that makes people really get it?"
Melissa McCarthy: "I get so psychotically attached to all of my characters, and I fight for them in probably the most annoying way. I hear myself saying to Ben or Paul [Feig, Ghostbusters' director], "She wouldn't phrase it that way." I know it's such an actory thing, but I feel it to my core: I have to represent the woman I'm getting to be. Even if she's fictitious, she's always real to me: three-dimensional, flawed, loving, screwed-up, as real women are."
Kate McKinnon on being Bieber, interviewed by Lizzy Goodman:
"I came to a reckoning that [pretending to be other people] is in fact such a real, huge chunk of the way I communicate. I thought it was something I was putting on to disguise something else, but it's not." So, what she's saying is that in real life McKinnon is, in fact, Justin Bieber?, Goodman writes. "That is what I am telling you, yes."
Leslie Jones on being funny, interviewed by Ben Dickinson
"I just knew that I was funny, and I knew that it was just a matter of time. I didn't know what was going to actually happen-this is definitely way bigger than I thought-but I knew there was no way I was going to be that funny and nobody was going to notice it."
Kristen Wiig on being terrified on SNL, interviewed by Will Ferrell
Will Ferrell: "So, Saturday Night Live. What was the first thing you got to do on the show? Was it all almost too enormous to be nervous?"
Kristen Wiig: "My very first show I got on something that I wrote. I was weirdly less nervous for that than I was for the first sketch I was in, which was about someone being pregnant in their butt. I think it was Poehler, and we had a baby shower for her and –"
WF: "God, that's good."
KW: "I was scared that I was going to freeze or swear or pass out."
All photos: Mark Seliger
Styled by: Samira Nasr
Cover Fashion Credits:
KRISTEN WIIG: Jacket and trousers by Marc Jacobs, Bra by Morgan Lane, Earrings by Chopard, Ring by Ana Khouri.
KATE McKINNON: Blazer and trousers by Dolce & Gabbana, Earrings by Nirav Modi, Choker by Anita Ko, Necklace and rings by Cartier, Sandals by Gianvito Rossi.
LESLIE JONES: Gown by Sophie Theallet, Bra by Triumph, Earrings by Chopard, Sandals by Stuart Weitzman.
MELISSA McCARTHY: Blouse and skirt by Prabal Gurung, Earrings by Martin Katz, Bracelets by Kimberly McDonald.
Inside Photos Fashion Credits:
KRISTEN WIIG: Shirt by Miu Miu, Bra by Araks, Earrings, necklace, rings by Harry Winston, Boots by Giuseppe Zanotti Design.
KATE MCKINNON: Coat by Calvin Klein Collection, Earrings by Chanel Fine Jewelry.
LESLIE JONES: Dress by Dolce & Gabbana, Earrings and bracelet by Pomellato, Bracelet by John Hardy.
MELISSA MCCARTHY: Dress by Versace, Earrings by De Grisogono, Pumps by Brian Atwood.