The Story of Melissa McCarthy Who Married a Weird Best Friend and Found Her Happiness
Hollywood actress Melissa McCarthy has been together with actor and producer Ben Falcone in perfect harmony for 24 years. These talented people love working together: they film movies, write scripts, and run a producing company together. But the main thing is that Melissa and Ben support each other in everything they do and try to spend as much time together as possible.
At CHEERY, we decided to find out how Melissa McCarthy met Ben Falcone, and what the secret of their strong relationship is.
Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone met at a party. At the time, Melissa was a college student, and Ben was still in high school. Falcone confessed that he got scared of McCarthy because she was dressed in a black cape, had blue hair, and looked “very, very goth,” so they didn’t even say a word to each other. They happened to meet again in Los Angeles at The Groundlings school 10 years later. “We were friends from, like, day one,” the actress recalls.
In 2003, McCarthy and Falcone played in an episode of the Gilmore Girls series together. It’s unknown when they began dating, but they got married in 2005.
Falcone believes that they are very lucky to have each other, “We got hit with the same lucky stick. From the very first time we spoke, we were on the same page. We love each other, respect each other, and try not to sweat the small stuff. And we make each other laugh.”
In January 2007, the actress revealed that they were expecting their first baby. She jokingly said that she hoped their child would have a lot of Ben’s calm traits and less of her spazzy ones. Their daughter, Vivian, entered this world in May of the same year. According to McCarthy, Vivian looks like her very much. 3 years later, the couple had their second daughter, Georgette.
5 months after giving birth to their second child, the 39-year-old actress confessed that this pregnancy drained all her energy because she could sleep for only 3.5-4 hours a day, “I’m super round and super tired. My husband says it’s like he’s married to a 90-year-old because I just go out mid-sentence. He says, ’You were in mid-thought and then the next thing you stop talking. I turn around and you’re sound asleep on the couch.’”
Despite all the hardships of parenthood, Melissa and Ben would never forget their acting career, and in 2011, they played in the first movie together, comedy Bridesmaids. For the role in this movie, McCarthy was nominated for an Oscar but lost to Octavia Spencer.
But this was not their last project together. In 2013, the spouses founded a production company, and a year later, they wrote the script for the movie Tammy. The actress was glad that they dared to take this step, “We’ve been writing together for longer than we’ve been married. To be able to produce our own work and other people’s work that we are so passionate about is really a dream come true.”
Melissa and Ben try to support each other in everything. In 2017, Falcone wrote and published the book Being a Dad Is Weird: Lessons in Fatherhood from My Family to Yours. And McCarthy wrote the introduction to the book.
The spouses love to work with each other. When McCarthy was asked what it was like to make movies together with her husband, she replied, “It’s like you get to go to work with your best friend.”
Even though the spouses have been together for many years, they have never stopped surprising each other. On Valentine’s Day, for example, McCarthy gave Falcone a heart-shaped box filled with deviled eggs. The fact is that Ben is not fond of chocolate, but he loves deviled eggs.
And to celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary, Melissa gave her husband a cell phone for seniors which had huge buttons. The actress confessed that their daughters were horrified by this gift. “He gave me 2 beautiful rings, one that said ‘Love.’ And I gave him a Jitterbug phone. I need to work on my romance skills,” Melissa said.
In 2020, the couple celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary. Not long before this date, Melissa said in an interview that she “hit the jackpot” when she met her future husband. According to the actress, the key to a strong relationship is in the ability to make your partner laugh, “He makes me gut-laugh, like crazy gut-laugh, 4 or 5 times a day.”
Ben Falcone shares his wife’s views. He also believes that humor changes a lot. “Melissa makes everything fun — just by being herself. I’m such a lucky fellow to be married to someone so smart, kind, beautiful, and crazy funny.”
But making your partner laugh is not the only key to a harmonious marriage. A year ago, Melissa McCarthy wrote on Instagram, “The real key to happiness — marry your weird best friend.”
Do you know anyone who married their best friend? Tell us their story in the comments below.