Comedian Melissa McCarthy won us over in "Bridesmaids" with her hysterical antics involving exaggerated sexual advances toward an undercover airplane marshal, played by her real-life husband Ben Falcone; her tough love toward "SNL" alum Kristen Wiig; and her weird puppy-hoarding at Maya Rudolph's bridal shower. The role was so funny and memorable that it landed McCarthy an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

She starred in "The Heat" with Sandra Bullock and told off Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann in Judd Apatow's "This Is 40." Now she's in the driver's seat, starring as Tammy in the new film of the same name.

In "Tammy," McCarthy is down on her luck: She totals her clunker of a car and gets fired from her thankless greasy burger joint gig, only to come home and find her husband and their neighbor getting cozy over dinner. Broke and without wheels, she goes to her grandma, Pearl (Academy Award winner Susan Sarandon), her only option — she has a car and cash, and she wants to see Niagara Falls. And she's got a saucy, exciting past as an Allman Brothers groupie. On their road trip, the two learn a lot about each other and themselves.

The film features a stellar cast of "SNL" alums and other comedians, including Allison Janney ("The Help") as Tammy's world-weary mom, Deb; Gary Cole (TV's "VEEP") as ladies man Earl; and Mark Duplass (HBO's "Togetherness") as his son, Bobby; with Dan Aykroyd ("The Campaign") as Tammy's dad, Don; and Academy Award winner Kathy Bates ("Misery," "Midnight in Paris") as Pearl's fun-loving cousin Lenore.

In addition to these comedic heavyweights, the cast also includes Sandra Oh (TV''s "Grey's Anatomy") as Lenore's partner, Susanne; Oscar nominee Toni Collette ("The Sixth Sense") as Tammy's neighbor, Missi; Nat Faxon ("Bad Teacher") as Tammy's husband, Greg; and Ben Falcone ("Bridesmaids") as Tammy's boss at the burger joint, Topper Jacks. "Tammy" marks Falcone's directorial debut.

"I still don't think we have quite gotten over who we actually got. It was unbelievable. When they were all together on set, I was like 'Are you kidding me?!' It really seemed like too much of a good thing. My fear is that it will never happen again," McCarthy told Latin Post.

"Everybody was cast, the deals were done and somebody asked, 'So, who's in it?' I said it out loud and I said, 'Can you imagine that?' I think they thought I was lying ... it was like the hits keep on coming," she added.

Getting Academy Award winner Kathy Bates to star in the film was a real highlight for McCarthy. During the shooting, she was so floored she thought: "How is Kathy Bates on a dock with me blowing my mind?!" Falcone points out that the two had a "very special bond."

Casting the legendary Susan Sarandon as Tammy's grandmother, Pearl, was a no-brainer, but at first McCarthy thought it might be a long-shot.

"I just thought you need somebody who is really kind of comfortable in their own skin," McCarthy said. "We needed somebody sexy and somebody who could pull this off, and we thought Susan Sarandon ... She's so awesome. Susan can do anything. You know she's a skilled actress because she's done, I think 127 films."

Pearl wasn't your typical grandmother, however — there wasn't a Granny bun, knitting or crocheted sweaters involved. "She's [Pearl] lived. She wasn't an uptight, little Granny; she was someone who's been around the block, who's led a cool life, and she had her good years and her bad years," McCarthy said.

Having Dan Aykroyd play Tammy's dad, Don, was another major bonus in the film.

"Not only are these people great actors, but Dan Aykroyd is a great writer and a comedic icon," she said.

With this amount of comedic talent on set, there were bloopers galore.

"It was such a fun shoot, it was crazy," McCarthy said. "We kept making each other laugh ... There are certain things that come out of people's mouths that you just can't keep it together."

McCarthy's husband and partner-in-crime, Falcone, tried to soley focus on directing his first film, but it was inevitable that the hilarious duo would act together.

Every time he would write a funny line for Keith (Tammy's nerdy boss at the greasy burger joint Topper Jacks) McCarthy would whisper, "You know you're going to be playing Keith, right?" Sure enough, as Falcone kept developing the character, it ended up being a role he was writing for himself.

"It was really fun. My first day on set, I was like 'OK, let's not screw this up," Falcone joked. "We wanted people who were great at their jobs ... We wanted to collaborate. The collaboration was so high in 'Bridesmaids' that we wanted to emulate that in 'Tammy.'"

Do McCarthy and Falcone fight or have silly banter offscreen, like their characters in "Bridesmaids" or "Tammy"?

During one scene, Tammy gets fired by her boss, Keith, and throws ketchup packets at him. Asked if that happens in real life, McCarthy joked, "Not necessarily ketchup, there's a mustard packet here and there!"

"I think maybe because we don't really fight in real life, I wonder if we get it all out in movies ... It's how we met. We met at The Groundlings [LA-based improv group] doing these strange characters, and a funny thing to write in the sketch was always 'What's the problem, what's the conflict?' We were always writing scenes where we were fighting," she explained. "Going at each other in that really funny way was really fun."

"Just working with Melissa, I find her so funny and I love her personally," Falone added. "She said 'be the creepy boss, the creepy boss is in your wheelhouse.'"

McCarthy and Falcone have taken their collaboration one step further and started a production company called On the Day Productions, which is behind the movie "Michelle Darnell," a movie Universal Studios pre-emptively picked up this week. That film is based on a character McCarthy created and a story McCarthy and Falcone hatched. They will write the script with Steve Mallory, whom they met in The Groundlings.

Another comic duo, Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, co-produced "Tammy" as part of Gary Sanchez Productions, which is named after a fictional Paraguayan entrepreneur and financier and is represented by Creative Artists Agency. The company also founded the video site "Funny or Die."

Given the type of actress McCarthy is, it's no wonder that a group of top-notch actors got on board to join the cast of "Tammy." Like one of her idols, the legendary Carol Burnett, McCarthy aspires to rise to the occasion and give her best comedic performance, while staying true to herself.

"I just really adored ['The Carol Burnett Show.'] I thought it was great that she just didn't care and that she just threw it all out there, she just made people laugh so hard," McCarthy said. "I grew up watching these ladies and I thought, 'How could you not love somebody like that?' And that was a big part of my training."

Check out a Latin Post Exclusive: Melissa McCarthy's 'Mahalo' T-Shirt from New Film 'Tammy' Designed by Latino Artist Hugo Maldonado, Highlights Cinematic Pop-Culture Phenomenon as well as Latin Post's exclusive interview with Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone below.