Marielle Heller on Can You Ever Forgive Me? – “I love that this movie’s bringing up people’s love for Withnail”

At the end of its run on awards season, we nabbed director Marielle Heller to discuss working with Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant on her comic forging drama Can You Ever Forgive Me?

4 March 2019

By Lou Thomas

Marielle Heller on the set of Can You Ever Forgive Me (2018)

Marielle Heller’s Can You Ever Forgive Me? is a film of delights both familiar and unexpected. In her first dramatic role, Melissa McCarthy shows her strength as a serious actor following years of success in comedy zingers, including Bridesmaids (2011), The Heat (2013) and Spy (2015).

McCarthy plays belligerent and unsuccessful New York author Lee Israel who, when faced with imminent destitution, begins forging letters written by famous writers and selling them to rare book dealers. To help flog her epistolary fakes, she teams up with mischievous gay barfly Jack Hock, played by Richard E. Grant, who excels in the finest showcase for his talents in more than 30 years.

McCarthy and Grant are a brilliant pairing, chortling and verbally sparring as they banter around Manhattan’s literary milieu – an odd couple for the ages. The pair were rewarded for their efforts with nominations at the BAFTAs and the Academy Awards for best actress and best supporting actor. Grant also won an Independent Spirit for best actor, while Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty’s bittersweet script won them best screenplay at the same awards and best adapted screenplay at the Writers Guild of America Awards.

Heller, whose first film, The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015), was a bitingly funny and painfully truthful adaptation of Phoebe Gloeckner’s book, takes on Israel’s true story with characteristic openness and wit.

We caught up with her for a brief chat about her film, her stars and which movie would make a great double bill.

Melissa McCarthy’s role is far more serious than her typical part. How did you approach working with her on the film?

I tend to believe that comedic actors are actually really good at drama, if given the space to do it. I worked with Kristen Wiig on my first movie, and my husband’s a comedian; I actually think the best comedians are really in touch with the darkness of ‘being’.

I was excited that Melissa wanted to play this part and felt the desire to put herself in this other position and that she would trust me enough to let me guide her. She inherently understood Lee. She’s very adept at playing characters who are ignored by society and not given their proper due. This fell in that category.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

How do you feel about Lee as a character?

I love Lee. There’s something about characters who say honestly what’s on their mind that is incredibly refreshing. Lee just does not give a fuck about how people respond to her. I think for women there’s a sense always towards being conscious of other people’s feelings and being aware of how we’re perceived.

It’s great to have a character who cares so much more about her intellect than her looks. I found her funny. I relate to her in so many ways, and I think so many of us who are writers relate to the feeling that our work is part of us, a reflection of us, and if we’re not being recognised for our work we’re somehow not valid any more.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

Richard E. Grant’s role is his most exciting for a long time. Have many people mentioned its similarity to his performance in Withnail & I?

A few people have been asking whether this was a sequel to Withnail. That was his very first film role! Obviously I was a big fan of Richard from that film and so many other projects but – probably subconsciously – he was right for this part and I think it’s pretty fun. I just love that this movie is bringing up people’s love for Withnail. You could make a double feature of Withnail & I and Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Is it true there’s an homage to Tootsie (1982) in the film?

The scene where Lee says, “I hear you got Tom Clancy $3m for more red-baiting propaganda? Well, you can get me an advance for a Fanny Brice book,” that is a direct reference to Tootsie, the part in that film when Dustin Hoffman bursts into the office. We felt like there were some similarities; it is meant to feel like a movie from the 70s and 80s and weirdly it felt like that was what we needed for that part of the movie.

Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)

And finally, what couldn’t you ever forgive?

I’ve done a lot of work on forgiveness in my life, and a lot of years in therapy have meant that I’ve tried to hopefully recognise that forgiveness is not something you give to someone else; it’s something you give to yourself.

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