Ghostbusters Director Agreed to Star in Sandra Bullock Action Film Despite Criticizing “Women acting like men”
Directed by Paul Feig and written by Katie Dippold, The Heat was a buddy cop action comedy film that had a massive success at the box office. The main protagonists of the movie are Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy, who starred alongside actors like Demián Bichir, Marlon Wayans, Michael Rapaport, and Jane Curtin.
It is one of the most significant movies in Paul Feig’s career, as the movie was a smash hit that went on to make $229 million against a $43 million budget. In a 2013 interview, it came out that the director cast Sandra Bullock despite not preferring “women acting like men” in movies.
Paul Feig criticized women acting like men in movies but still chose to direct The Heat with Sandra Bullock
One of Paul Feig’s biggest successes is the movie Bridesmaids. When the film came out, it made even more than Sex and the City. While talking to HuffPost Entertainment about his new movie starring Sandra Bullock called The Heat and how the industry has changed post-Bridesmaids, he opened up to give some controversial views. The interviewer asked Paul Feig if he had noticed any change in the industry after the success of Bridesmaids, and he said:
“It turned into that more than I thought it was going to. There’s definitely an openness, but this summer we’re the only studio release with women in the lead roles. We’re not advancing as much as we should be. I know there are scripts that studios are trying to do, because now I get sent all of them. But the problem is that they’re not that good. Sometimes they try to go the other way, where it’s a bunch of ladies who are trying to get laid. I don’t like women acting like men; then it’s not serving anybody. That’s why “The Heat” was really important to me.”
He continued by saying:
“Because I didn’t want to do a romantic comedy. Even “Bridesmaids” had romantic elements to it with the Chris O’Dowd relationship, which worked great. What I liked about this one was that it didn’t have any of that. It’s just two professional women in the workforce who are great at their jobs and who are on this adventure.”
The Heat had a mixed box of reviews from the critics. While many praised Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy’s on-screen partnership and chemistry, many also found the movie to be predictable. However, it is still one of the best pop-culture phenomenon movies of all time.
Paul Feig told Jason Statham to not be funny despite being cast in his first action comedy movie
Jason Statham is one of the most formidable action heroes when it comes to Hollywood. He has proven himself time and time again in movies such as The Transporter and Fast & Furious. However, the action star actually had a hard time staring at Paul Feig’s action comedy, Spy. In an interview with The Guardian, he opened up about how Paul Feig asked him not to try to be funny at all.
“Paul was saying, ‘Look, just don’t try and be funny. That’s not what I want’. It harks back to Guy Ritchie saying, ‘Don’t try and act. That’s not what I want!’”
Also Read: Sandra Bullock Couldn’t Believe Daniel Radcliffe Could Pull Off His Weird Al Biopic
Although it might be hard for an action star to suddenly switch to comedy, it is especially harder when he is asked to not act funny in a comedy movie. However, this worked, and his performance in the movie was widely praised.
Sandra Bullock’s The Heat can be streamed on Apple TV, while Jason Statham’s Spy can be streamed on Amazon Prime.
