Whenever the phrase “women in comedy” is uttered, it’s often followed by a reference to “Bridesmaids,” the 2011 comedy written by two women and starring an all-woman ensemble. The hit movie has become somewhat of a beacon of hope for female writers and actresses wanting to show the industry that women-led comedies can succeed and, more importantly, that girls are funny. (Seriously, is the jury still out on this? We’re hilarious.)
“Bridesmaids” writer Annie Mumolo stopped by The Huffington Post on Tuesday to talk about her new film, “Bad Moms,” which stars a mainly female cast including Mila Kunis, Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Bell. When asked whether she thought “Bridesmaids” had opened a door for female comedies, Mumolo said that, at the time, she hadn’t realized people had ever opposed the idea.
”We actually didn’t know when we wrote that movie that the doors were closed,” said Mumolo. “We just were like, ‘Let’s write a funny movie with funny roles for our friends, for girls.’ We didn’t realize until they were starting to market the movie that there was this belief system that women couldn’t be funny.”
Mumolo also played the part of the woman that goes hysterical on the plane after Kristen Wiig’s character declares that there is “a colonial woman on the wing,” arguably the most hilarious scene in the entire film.
Besides succeeding at the box office, Mumolo and her co-writer Wiig were nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
“I never realized people didn’t think women [were funny],” Mumolo repeated. “We just didn’t know that was a big thing. Until they started marketing the movie and all this stuff was coming up and we were like, ‘Oh!’”
Because of the success of “Bridesmaids” and its cult-like following, however, it’s unlikely we’ll ever see a sequel.
“I just thing when you have something like that, we didn’t really want to mess with it. We just wanted to let it be what it was and it was a special thing for us,” said Mumolo.
You go, girl.
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