‘Furious 8’: Melissa McCarthy To Play Jason Statham’s Sister?
Will Melissa McCarthy join the Fast and Furious family in the upcoming film?
During an interview to promote his new film, Furious 7 star Jason Statham had a chance to talk about the highly-anticipated eighth installment of the franchise.
“I’d certainly come back for the next [movie], yeah.”
The interviewer then found a clever way to bring Jason’s Spy co-star Melissa McCarthy into the conversation by creating a potential role for her.
“Is there room for a sister in the Shaw family?”
In Furious 7, Jason Statham played Deckard Shaw – a rogue special forces assassin seeking vengeance against Dominic Toretto and the gang on behalf of his hospitalized brother Owen.
Deckard Shaw Mtlb Apna Ganja #JasonStatham pic.twitter.com/BTiSnuKyn3
(@Amirjavyd) May 24, 2015
Melissa McCarthy being part of the Shaw family would mean that she would likely need to follow in the same hardcore, take-no-prisoners footsteps that her brothers took in the sixth and seventh movies of the blockbuster franchise.
Even though the question was directed to Jason, Melissa did not hesitate to jump into the conversation with her great sense of comic timing as usual.
“Oh! Wait, I just perked up… I’m sure everyone goes right to me [when they think of taking Vin Diesel].”
The Mike & Molly star is mostly known for her roles in small-screen and big-screen comedies – including Bridesmaids and Identity Thief.
However, McCarthy has been able to show off her tough side in quite a few of her roles – especially when playing a cop (The Heat), a special agent (Spy) or even a flexible woman that is interested in helping an undercover air marshal take down misbehaving passengers (Bridesmaids).
#theheat #taffemädels with #sandrabullock and @melissamccarthy pic.twitter.com/uaMPrBCKKA — xenia (@x_ktz) May 3, 2015
Spy Bridesmaids The Heat http://t.co/oxglftPYRG pic.twitter.com/iRigdMKxE9
— JEDIYUTH (@JEDIYUTH) April 3, 2015
Perhaps Melissa’s toughness, which she has shown off occasionally, is why actor Dwayne Johnson spoke highly about her being able to take down Vin Diesel on the big screen.
“She could kick Vin’s ass for sure! I mean that goes without saying. Vin’s tough though! I’ve fought him– but Melissa’s tough too. Never fought her, but we have common friends so I know how tough she is so yeah she could kick Vin Diesel’s ass for sure.”
Chances are that the cast list for Fast and Furious 8 will not have Melissa McCarthy listed as a member of the Shaw family (if it even has her listed at all).
However, even though Jason Statham and Melissa McCarthy were apparently joking around during the interview, seeing Melissa taking on that type of role is not as far-fetched as it might seem.
[Image Credit: Michael Buckner/Getty Images]
