WARNING: Spoilers ahead for Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar!
Early test audiences who watched Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar didn’t recognize star Kristen Wiig pulling double duty as both one of the movie’s heroines and its villain, according to director Josh Greenbaum. The movie is about middle-aged Midwestern besties Barb (Annie Mumolo) and Star (Wiig) who take a vacation to Vista Del Mar, Florida. There, they get tangled up in a nefarious plot by villain Sharon Gordon Fisherman, who is also played by Wiig.
Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar released on demand Friday, February 12. Mumolo and Wiig co-wrote the script, following their work on 2011’s Bridesmaids. The two are a sought-after writing duo, considering the success of that film. Mumolo and Wiig even received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay for the movie. Wiig was most recently seen onscreen as Barbara Minerva/Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984, which released in December.
In an interview on the ReelBlend podcast, Greenbaum says Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar‘s early test audiences didn’t recognize Wiig in her second role as Sharon, in a testament to her acting ability:
One of the greatest compliments I think to [Kristen Wiig] is that when we did early test screenings, it was so many people that were like, ‘Who is that villain? She’s so good. I can’t put my finger on who the actress is.’ And that’s, I think, such a compliment to her role. My other fun, short story about that is we had a guy even working on the film, doing some color work early on in the process. He worked on the film for three days. Every day, I’d check in on him and he’d say, ‘Don’t tell me. I haven’t figured it out yet. I’ve got to go to IMDB. But I want to figure out who it is.’ He worked on it for three days and didn’t figure it out that it was Kristen. We do a couple of tricks. We add a little tooth gap… and a little prosthetic on the nose, and obviously, she’s actually wearing some interesting contact lenses. But the rest of it is just her performance and how she completely goes from one character to the other.
The director likens Wiig’s dual performance to when Mike Myers played both Austin Powers and Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies. He also claims she might be the first female comedian to play both the hero and villain in the same film.
Wiig is known for her comedic chops: she was nominated for an acting Golden Globe for Bridesmaids and multiple Emmys for her time on Saturday Night Live. Considering Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar is a comedy, it’s no surprise she’s capable of playing dual comedic roles. But Wiig’s also an extremely versatile performer, having brought surprising depth and nuance to Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984. It makes sense she handled both parts with ease.
It’s slightly harder to believe nobody could figure out who was playing the villain, though, especially the person working on Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, who could potentially have seen her getting her makeup done for the second role. Even in serious movies that try to do major physical transformations using heavy prosthetics and makeup, it’s usually obvious who the actor is. As Greenbaum says, it speaks to Wiig’s performance that so few were able to figure it out.
Source: ReelBlend
