Kristen Wiig never expected her upcoming role in the all-female Ghostbusters reboot to be the most controversial of her career. When Bridesmaids director Paul Feig announced the project in 2014, haters immediately began complaining that women in the lead roles would ruin the comedy classic. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Wiig addressed the backlash.
"Some people said some really not nice things about the fact that there were women," Wiig said. "It didn't make me mad, it just really bummed me out."
Something else that bums out Wiig? Getting asked about whether comedic actresses are starting to get taken more seriously in the industry. After one mention of Wiig's blockbuster Bridesmaids, which is repeatedly cited as a game-changer for female ensemble comedies, Wiig interjected.
"You're not going to ask me the 'women in comedy' question, are you?" she asked before elaborating on its inherent laziness.
"If [people] would watch movies or look at comedy and see how many talented, funny women are out there and have been since the beginning of time, people would stop asking that," Wiig explained.
But that isn't to say parity has been achieved, even with the success of films like Bridesmaids, Trainwreck, and Spy.
"The other side of it is we're still not there as far as opportunities," Wiig said. "But people are doing the work."
And as far as the hilarious Wiig is concerned, that's work we can't wait to watch.