Red-carpet interviews — particularly at awards shows — are terribly awkward as a matter of course. After discussing the finer points of one’s outfit, there’s not much to say other than rave about how fabulous the other person looks and how wonderful she is at her job. André Leon Talley, the very master of articulating fabulousness, took that conversation to a whole new level when he talked to Melissa McCarthy for Entertainment Tonight at the SAG Awards. (He complimented, among other things, her beauty, her performance in Bridesmaids, and her “beautiful super size and voluptuousness.”) Here’s how the dialogue went:
ALT: I’m with Melissa McCarthy, who’s so incredibly beautiful!
MM: I’m so bewildered to meet you!
ALT: You’re wonderful! And I know you’re wearing Badgley Mischka tonight … You were incredible in Bridesmaids. You are extraordinary. And so funny! You are SO funny! And so beautiful!
MM: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
ALT: What makes a curvaceous lady like you decide to wear navy blue from Badgley Mischka?
MM: I’ve been wanting to wear like, a dark blue, and something a little drapier, and I said ‘What about a little bit of a cowl neck?’ And they said, ‘Why not?’
ALT: You know what’s great about you is because of your beautiful super-size and voluptuousness, you cover it up and yet you expose a beautiful inner self-esteem, and I love that.
MM: Well, thanks! I love fashion, so it doesn’t stop at ten.
ALT: It doesn’t stop! It doesn’t stop at ten! I’m not exactly a two myself, so it doesn’t stop with us, because we love to eat! Right?
MM: Takin’ a turn somewhere!
ALT: No, I don’t want to take a turn. I really admire you.
For better or for worse, it was by far the most interesting red-carpet interview of the evening.
