Susan Sarandon thought Melissa McCarthy was "brave as hell" while filming her new movie ‘Tammy’.
The 67-year-old actress, who plays a hard-drinking grandmother in the film, which was directed by Melissa’s husband and co-writer Ben Falcone, claims the star went above and beyond when playing a woman who discovers her husband has been unfaithful.
Asked what Melissa is like, she said: "Smart, brave as hell, so sweet. I think that comes out in the movie. She can do anything, and somehow you forgive her, because she is such a good person, such a sweet person."
And the veteran actress admired the way her co-star worked with her spouse.
Talking about her working relationship with Ben, she added: "As a team, the two of them were very collaborative. I never sensed any problems.
"They’d been working together for a long time already, so this wasn’t something new.
"It’s not guaranteed that people that are couples necessarily can work smoothly together, but they did."
Susan also twice appeared on Melissa’s CBS show ‘Mike And Molly’ and found her co-star has a "sense of the bigger picture" when it came to directing.
She said: "The Clint Eastwoods, the Sean Penns, the Robert Redfords of the world, they know how pieces have to fit together. They’re not just trying to satisfy their ego. And she definitely has that.
"She wants to serve the whole – even though she carried the movie herself. And she has so much energy."
Susan went on to express her amazement at the amount of work Melissa had to put into the show and she feels she has a bright future as a director as well as an actress.
She said: "It’s just amazing, physically, what she had to do, and at the same time, would go to the monitor and would notice things and make suggestions.
"And we all would go to the monitor and make suggestions. But I’m sure she’ll be directing more in the future."
‘Tammy’ is in cinemas now.
Susan Sarandon: Melissa McCarthy is brave as hell
