The True Story Behind Melissa Mccarthy's Sean Spicer Skit and Secret Snl Preparation
By James H. Sterling
The concept for McCarthy's guest turn emerged during an intense Tuesday pitch meeting ahead of episode 12 of Season 42, which was scheduled to be hosted by Kristen Stewart. While Alec Baldwin’s recurring Donald Trump impersonation dominated the news cycle, the writing room found itself fascinated by the combative, high-decibel press conferences conducted by Spicer during his first two weeks in office. SNL co-head writer Kent Sublette floated an offbeat proposition to showrunner Lorne Michaels: instead of casting an existing repertory male player like Colin Jost or Beck Bennett, McCarthy should step into the suit.
Michaels placed the call. McCarthy, who was in New York for personal meetings, initially hesitated. She wondered whether she could realistically capture Spicer’s vocal cadence and manic defensive posture without coming off as caricature without substance. Once writers Sublette and Bryan Tucker drafted the preliminary script, incorporating absurd visual gags like chewing an entire commercial sleeve of Orbit cinnamon gum and using oversized water guns to hose down the press corps, McCarthy signed on. The production immediately entered lockdown protocol. Her name was omitted from call sheets, script packets, and internal NBC guest logs to prevent the cameo from leaking to the press before dress rehearsal.
James Sterling reports on renewable energy developments, climate policy, ecological conservation, and green tech innovations around the globe.
