Rachael Harris: I'm a professional swearer

December 15, 2009 ι Jarett Wieselman

With three hilarious leading men, a giant tiger, a full-frontal Ken Jeong and Mike Tyson, it takes a lot to stand out in "The Hangover." And yet I'm not the only one who walked out of the theater talking about Rachael Harris. The omnipresent comedian delivered the biggest and best role of her career as Melissa, Stu's mentally abusive wife whose filthy mouth would make even the most seasoned sailor blush.

But Rachael has been delivering killer performances for years on shows like "Fat Actress," "Notes from the Underbelly" and "The Daily Show" -- so this is just desserts in the minds of her many fans.

I recently caught up with Rachael and she revealed how this role has permanently altered her male fanbase, whether Melissa will return in "Hangover 2" and what her next movie will be. Hint: She's ready to dethrone Angelina Jolie as Hollywood's reigning action heroine!

PopWrap: A lot of your previous roles have been in very female skewing projects, so how have America's men reacted to you since this movie came out?
Rachael Harris: The looks I get from men now could be described as horror. They're a little worried. I think once people meet me they realize that's not who I really am. I mean, that side can definitely come out, but I'm really a nice person.

PW: But you play mean so well -- and so often!
Rachael: I think once you play that kind of character once, casting people think, "oh she can really be mean." But for me, I really love doing it. I've always been drawn to characters that are pushed to extremes. I like to see how well they can deal with it. Those are the people that I find interesting because I feel like as a society we try to put our best foot forward, but I don't trust anybody until I've seen them completely lose it.

PW: It must also be quite liberating.
Rachael: There's a freedom in showing the uglier parts of ourselves. It's embarrassing and you only hope that people empathize.

PW: Well, even if they don't empathize, they're certainly enjoying watching you tear into Ed Helm's character.
Rachael: It was really fun for me too. And it was great because Todd [Phillips, director] really enjoyed it and kept telling me, "go for it." Well, I love a challenge and am very competitive, so for him to say, see how far you can take it just made me think, "back the f*** up, here I go!"

PW: You have so many great moments, but I'm curious how many were improv and how many were scripted.
Rachael: Everything that was written made it into the cut, but we just added. Like when I told Zach [Galifianakis] to suck my you know what, that was not scripted. And the whole ending wasn't scripted. Originally, it ended with Ed and Zach's waiter/bartender conversation. But we just kept taking it further and Zach came up with the idea to say he was going to get his bartending license. We just played with the whole ending and I played with different things I told him to suck [laughs]. My poor parents in Ohio, I swear in a lot of movies, and while I really do love it, they do not.

PW: I've heard other female comedians, like Sarah Silverman, say similar things.
Rachael: Exactly. And Sarah's a friend and it's funny, when we hang out, we don't swear like that. It's just a work thing.

PW: You're a professional swearer.
Rachael: [laughs] Oh, I love that! I'm stealing that! From here on out, I am a professional swearer!

PW: So tell me, do you think Melissa has basically bitched herself out of the sequel?
Rachael: I honestly think we've blown up their relationship so badly that I can't imagine Stu would want to see her. Now, I would beg, borrow and steal to be in the sequel, but unless they run into me somewhere, I can't imagine how she'd be in it.

PW: On the plus side, you churn out FunnyOrDie videos like a champ, so it's not like we won't have new Rachael material.
Rachael: Those guys are so great over there. It's kinda like being back in The Groundlings -- we're all just trying to crack each other up.

PW: Do you have a particular favorite video?
Rachael: Just because I loved working with Andrea Savage so much, I'd have to say "Lady Cops."

PW: I think the world needs a "Lady Cops" movie.
Rachael: [laughs] I think it would be great! It goes along with the world [Adam] McKay and Will Ferrell have created in "Anchorman" and "Semi-Pro," it kinda fits in with that.

PW: I mean, we've had comedy Rachael, drama Rachael, I think it's time we get Rachael on top of a semi, launching a bazooka!
Rachael: I like it. I like your style. I think that should be the headline for this story: "Next thing for Rachael Harris: hard core action!"

"The Hangover" is now on DVD