© 2026 ABC News

McCarthy also told Connelly about how encouraging her family has been throughout her career.

\"My mom and dad both always supported me, you know, maybe even more than they should have but always were just kind of, like, 'if you work hard enough, why not?'\" she said.

McCarthy and her mother did a joint interview for AARP The Magazine in April 2018.

McCarthy told her mother, \"I don't know how you did it, Mom. I would have said, 'This is silly. You're not going to become an actor…' The fact that you didn't give me guilt changed the course of my life. Because if I'd been guilted out, I definitely would have quit,\" she told the magazine.

\"PHOTO:
Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
PHOTO: Sandy McCarthy, left, and Melissa McCarthy arrive at the 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon, Feb. 4, 2019, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.
>

Sandy McCarthy said the family never pressured Melissa to finish college before pursuing her dream.

\"We just said, 'If she doesn't want to go to college, OK. Let's let her give this new thing a try, which is kind of terrible parental advice,\" the older McCarthy told AARP The Magazine.

Added Melissa McCarthy, \"But also the greatest thing I could have possibly asked for, A normal parent might have said, 'You're insane.' Instead, this maniac kept saying, 'OK, good luck. Let me know what play you're doing.' I was, like, 'My mother's crazy!'\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/melissa-mccarthy-brings-mother-oscar-nominees-luncheon-mom/story?id=60855494","legacySlug":"/culture/story/melissa-mccarthy-brings-mother-oscar-nominees-luncheon-mom-60855494","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"19:19","publishDate":"02-05-2019","updatedTime":"14:26","updatedDate":"02-06-2019","socialImage":{"alt":"Sandy McCarthy, left, and Melissa McCarthy arrive at the 91st Academy Awards Nominees Luncheon, Feb. 4, 2019, at The Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.","credit":"Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/melissa-mccarthy1-mom-ap-ml-190205_hpMain_2_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"2/5/2019 19:19:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":60855494,"headline":"Actress brings mom to Oscar nominees luncheon","mediaAssetTitle":"Melissa McCarthy Brings Mom to Oscars luncheon","description":"Melissa McCarthy brought her mother Sandy to the big event.","duration":"2:56","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/02/190205_gma_connelly_0818_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["60166627","60165395","60468270"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"January 7, 2019","headline":"Sandra Oh delivers passionate speech at Globes about diversity: 'This moment is real'","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/sandra-makes-history-1st-asian-actress-host-golden-60166627","id":60166627,"image":{"alt":"Sandra Oh delivers passionate speech at Globes about diversity: 'This moment is real'","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/golden-globes-oh-sandburg-monologue-ap-jef-190106_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal via Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"January 7, 2019","headline":"'Green Book,' 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' 'Roma' dominate 2019 Golden Globes ","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/golden-globes-2019-complete-winners-list-60165395","id":60165395,"image":{"alt":"'Green Book,' 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' 'Roma' dominate 2019 Golden Globes ","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/ali-green-book-golden-globes-rt-jef-190106_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"NBC via AP","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"January 22, 2019","headline":"2019 Oscar nominations: 'Roma,' 'The Favourite' lead, 'Black Panther' also scores big","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/watch-2019-oscar-nominations-live-60468270","id":60468270,"image":{"alt":"2019 Oscar nominations: 'Roma,' 'The Favourite' lead, 'Black Panther' also scores big","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/black-panther-3-ht-er-180222_3_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Marvel Studios","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Actress brings mom to Oscar nominees luncheon","description":"Melissa McCarthy brought her mother Sandy to the big event.","duration":"2:56","uploadDate":"02-05-2019","publication":"02-05-2019","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/02/190205_gma_connelly_0818_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2019/02/190205_gma_connelly_0818_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/melissa-mccarthy-brings-mother-oscar-nominees-luncheon-mom-60855494"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133358298","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133350119","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307515","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307527","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133282665","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:culture:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"culture","title":"Actress brings mom to Oscar nominees luncheon","pubTime":"14:19","pubDate":"02-05-2019","modTime":"09:26","modDate":"02-06-2019","taxonomyTags":"none","id":60855494,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Actress brings mom to Oscar nominees luncheon","mediaAssetTitle":"Melissa McCarthy Brings Mom to Oscars luncheon","videoId":60855494,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/melissa-mccarthy-brings-mother-oscar-nominees-luncheon-mom-60855494"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/60855494","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/60855494","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};