Wendi McLendon-Covey Lands Starring Role: Is She Still the Unsung Hero of Bridesmaids?

Very happy news on the wire today: Wendi McLendon-Covey, whose hilarious role in Bridesmaids all but vanished in the film's third act, is set to star in A White Trash Christmas, a Christmas Carol revamp in which a "whiskey-soaked, trashy mother is visited by three ghosts who try to show her a path to a brighter future." While this character sounds like a retread of her Bridesmaids part, I'm always down for a lady-led Scrooged reboot. (A Diva's Christmas Carol, anyone?) This leads us to a larger question: Is McLendon-Covey the unsung hero of Bridesmaids? We provide evidence after the jump.

Though she gets as bawdy as the other actresses, McLendon-Covey's subtle delivery in her brief introduction with Kristen Wiig is so, so perfect. No one else in the cast could as brilliantly nail a line about cracking a blanket in half.

In this classic outtake reel from Bridesmaids, we gawp as McLendon-Covey works her improv brio and spouts disgusting images to describe her household. While Melissa McCarthy is just as brassy, McLendon-Covey is straight-up gross -- and we have to respect that.

But last and most important, she's just like us. In this junket interview, McLendon-Covey expresses exasperation with the lack of female-led comedies and pinpoints exactly what works about the movie: It's mainly about a friendship, not romance. Let's get this woman her own Oscar buzz.

• McLendon-Covey Picks Up 'Trash' [Variety]