A day in the life of Melissa McCarthy, who makes $12 million a year, wakes up at 4:30 a.m., and doesn't use her phone on the weekends

Hillary Hoffower

Updated 26 October 2018 at 9:46 pm

Melissa McCarthy begins her daily routine at 4:30 a.m., according to a New York Times profile.
As one of Hollywood's highest-paid women, McCarthy is busy, but her daily routine is a little more normal than one might expect.
She makes time for TV, reading, baths, and her family - but she doesn't make a whole lot of time for technology.

Melissa McCarthy is living the life - beginning at 4:30 a.m every day.

That's what time McCarthy, who made $US12 million in 2018, wakes up every day to begin her "carefully curated" routine, according to a recent New York Times profile by Taffy Brodesser-Akner.

As a celebrity and one of the highest-paid women in Hollywood, McCarthy's daily routine doesn't look like the everyday person's, but it's actually more normal than one might expect. Although she's often on-the-go and on set, she begins her day with TV reruns and ends it with a nightly bath. On the weekends, she spends time with her husband, Ben Falcone.

One thing McCarthy doesn't have a lot of time for? Technology. While she indulges in some reading and browsing on her iPad, she often disconnects from her phone and never makes time for emails.

From reading the newspaper to working out, see how the 47-year-old fits it all in.

McCarthy's days are "carefully curated," as well as "carefully organised" so she can take her children to school and gymnastics.

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McCarthy's days are "carefully curated," as well as "carefully organised" so she can take her children to school and gymnastics.

Whether she's in her Los Angeles or Atlanta home, McCarthy rises at 4:30 a.m. That may be early, but she eases into her mornings.

If she wakes up too early, she'll watch HGTV, which she calls "mind-blowingly relaxing."

She tiptoes around the house to avoid waking up her family and makes a cup of Joe.

At 5 a.m., she usually wakes up her two daughters.

McCarthy then watches TV reruns — typically, an episode of "Knight Rider" or the "The Incredible Hulk." "I treat myself right," she told the New York Times.

McCarthy reads The Los Angeles Times and National Geographic the old-fashioned way — in print. Both get delivered to her home.

She makes an exception for The New York Times, which she reads on her iPad.

McCarthy said she hates a world revolved around efficiency, but she also hates boredom.

"I don't like to be bored," she told Rolling Stone. "All this fun stuff could be over in a flash, so I'm constantly burning it as fast as I can. I have freaky energy."

"I'm a doer! I'm a builder! I'm a worker bee!" she told Rolling Stone.

It's a good thing, then, that McCarthy's days are often busy on set. So far, she's released three movies in 2018.

If she's on set, McCarthy only uses her phone when it's necessary, she said.

As part of McCarthy's "careful curation," her sets often look the same and employ the same crew.

She also makes time in her day to read movie reviews. "She sees that when a drama doesn't work, it was 'a good effort' and gets a thoughtful review, but when a comedy doesn't work, it's a crime against humanity and gets taken outside behind the shed," wrote Brodesser-Akner.

One thing McCarthy doesn't have time for is email. "She won't even do email. People can text her or they can call her. Email will drown her," wrote Brodesser-Akner.

In order to get into shape for her upcoming movie, "The Kitchen," McCarthy has reportedly been following the celebrity favourite Keto diet, which focuses on high protein and low carbs.

She's reportedly ditched junk food and processed food in favour of organic vegetables, lean protein, and lots of fibre.

She's also swapped soda for water, and her hot beverage of choice is green tea.

According to a source who talked to Hollywood Life, McCarthy also does cardio and weight training workouts a minimum of five days a week, including circuit training, walking and rowing, and regular kickboxing sessions.

At night, she unwinds by perusing Pinterest and Etsy on her iPad while taking a bath. "She buys bullheads and wallpaper and Moroccan rugs and duck heads and a moose head," wrote Brodesser-Akner.

During her nightly bath time, she thinks about originality and the movies she watched growing up and her dreams of being in them, according to Brodesser-Akner.

McCarthy usually calls it a night around 9 or 9:30 p.m., but said she never gets continuous sleep. "Luckily, I've convinced myself I don't need that much sleep, but I don't know if that's actually true," she told Good Housekeeping.

On weekends, McCarthy and Falcone put their phones away for even more technological disconnect.

Every Sunday, they have friends over for dinner. "Falcone makes meatballs and sauce or McCarthy makes meatloaf," wrote Brodesser-Akner.

She and her husband often put on different characters and voices. "She will one minute be a tough-talking Midwestern person, and then in a second she'll be a too-literal scientist," wrote Brodesser-Akner.

These weekends are a respite from a busy schedule. "I know somewhere in there, I'm incredibly tired, but I just keep going," she told Good Housekeeping. "I'm afraid that if I stop, I'll just disintegrate."

McCarthy doesn't plan to wind down any time soon. She says she wants to add more culture in her life, such as learning Italian and French, living in Paris, and seeing "whatever great vistas are around the next corner" with her family.

And once she hits 70, "It's going to be all caftans and turbans and big wacky glasses," she told AARP.

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