Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone Tried to Keep Their Daughter out of Acting

Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone are one of Hollywood’s most devoted and beloved couples. The comedians and filmmakers have been together for more than two decades and have navigated the trials and tribulations of the spotlight at each other’s side. Although McCarthy and Falcone work hard to keep their family life private, they are very proud of their children – and in early 2021, Falcone cast one of the couple’s children in his film Thunder Force. As Falcone revealed in the press notes for the film, while he and McCarthy tried to keep their daughter out of the acting business, her talent simply cannot be denied.

Ben Falcone recently cast his daughter as a younger version of Melissa McCarthy

The 2021 movie Thunder Force features a sequence of Melissa McCarthy’s character, Lydia Berman, in flashback, as a high school student who experienced being bullied in school. Playing McCarthy during the character’s younger years is Vivian Falcone, Ben Falcone and McCarthy’s eldest daughter. The young Falcone nailed her role with her realistic acting and incredible resemblance to her mother, endearing her to viewers. Falcone, who directed Thunder Force, admitted in the press notes for the film that he couldn’t deny his daughter was right for the part.

“We’ve kind of kept Vivian out of acting, but she’s very good at it. We needed a person to play a 12-year-old Lydia, and Vivian is a dead ringer for Melissa at that age,” Falcone said, according to BuzzFeed. 

How many kids do Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy have?

Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy first met in the 1990s, when they were both students – but it was in 1998 that their romance really developed. According to People Magazine, they bonded during a comedy class and started dating shortly after. They got married in October 2005, and, just two years later, they announced that they were expecting their first child together. That child, a daughter named Vivian, was born on May 5, 2007.

In March 2010, McCarthy and Falcone welcomed their second child, a daughter whom they named Georgette. While McCarthy and Falcone rarely bring their daughters into the spotlight, it seems safe to say that all the members of the Falcone-McCarthy family share a love for the family business – and for comedy in particular. In 2016, both of the couple’s daughters made brief appearances in McCarthy’s comedy film The Boss. Young Vivian Falcone, who was eight years old at the time, played McCarthy’s character in a flashback, foreshadowing her larger role in Thunder Force. In contrast, Georgette, who was six then, played an ambitious young girl selling brownies.

Will Vivian Falcone pursue an acting career?

While Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone’s eldest daughter is still a bit young to decide what she wants to do with her future, there’s no doubt in her parents’ minds that she’s got the skills to do whatever she wants. Later in the press notes for Thunder Force, Falcone detailed his daughter’s talent with timing and delivery. “She’s like her mom in that she can stay in the scene and then you can pitch her alternate ways that the scene can go based on what you think might be a little funnier or different — and she is able to make those adjustments,” Falcone said, according to PopSugar. 

Considering Falcone and McCarthy’s fondness for collaborating on artistic ventures, it seems likely that fans might get the chance to see Vivian Falcone develop her skills further in the future.