If it were a matter of principles then I think we know they have them. We know they did choose a woman, the only question is whether they did it solely because McCarthy’s Spicer was the best Spicer, or whether they did it because of that and because they knew it would needle the administration. I tend to think the latter because I find it hard to believe they looked at choices through a 100% gender-free lens. I can’t think of any other example of cross-gender impersonations from the show.
I was thinking about Rosie playing Bannon: Could she actually do a good Bannon? The effect of McCarthy as Spicer was hugely dependent on her being fantastic. But then I realized, Bannon has almost no public persona, he prefers to stay in the shadows. They could portray Bannon absolutely any way they wanted.
At any rate, I still think it’s fair to say that when someone thinks, “Who is going to play [this man]” they think of male actors first (and the same for women), and there are probably stories behind each somewhat rare exception. Though I think the McCarthy/Spicer thing stands out because she wasn’t on the cast. Terry Sweeny probably got Nancy Reagan because he did hilarious Nancy Reagan impersonations backstage.
In this case (according to People) the head writer came up with the idea and asked McCarthy. My guess is he knows her personally - I don’t think anyone would have guessed this was in McCarthy’s repertoire from watching Mike & Molly.
Which makes me wonder, did she ever do stand-up? After this skit I’d be interested in seeing that.
She’s been in lots of things, and I’ve seen her in a few. I was pretty surprised by this performance, though.
Just like as a kid I watched the entire run of Roseanne without realizing how funny Roseanne Barr is, or (even more so) how watching Full House and early seasons of America’s Funniest Home Videos would not even remotely prepare you for Bob Saget’s stand-up.
OT and I’m sure @Donald_Petersen’s stories are much better and first-hand to boot but one I’ve heard is too good not to share: when Saget and another comedian were working clubs they’d sit in adjoining bathroom stalls and try to come up with the filthiest things they could say to each other.
One night Saget looked down, saw the other guy’s shoes, and said, “You know what I’d like right now? A great big cock in my ass.”
