Melissa McCarthy Reveals the Social Media Advice She Gave Her 2 Daughters, Vivian and Georgette
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You wouldn't know it from the couple's social media platforms, but Melissa McCarthy and Ben Falcone have the coolest kids on the planet. The comedy duo — who refrain from posting about their kids on social media aside from rare photos where their faces are obscured — have had their fair share of funny moments on screen, but their two daughters, Vivian and Georgette, are just as funny — if not more — say the couple.
"It's a balancing act. Kids are really smart," McCarthy told People at the 2016 premiere of "The Boss." "They pick up on everything and then you still have to not laugh in front of them as you tell them that something's not appropriate, or something might be too aggressive. Then, when they leave the room . . ."
"You laugh really hard," Falcone chimed in.
McCarthy and Falcone are so invested in parenting, they both took part in writing Falcone's book about fatherhood, "Being a Dad Is Weird," for which McCarthy wrote the foreword.
Just like their mom and dad, Vivian and Georgette have a knack for the big screen, too. Both sisters acted alongside McCarthy in "The Boss," and McCarthy and Vivian also costarred in Netflix's "Thunder Force" (Vivian played McCarthy's characters' younger selves in both movies). Falcone wrote the script, making it a family affair.
Most recently, Georgette accompanied McCarthy and Falcone to the Los Angeles premiere of "The Little Mermaid" on May 8. It marked a rare public appearance for the 13-year-old, though she was snapped in plenty of photos with her parents.
At the premiere, McCarthy spoke to People about how she navigates parenting her daughters in the social media era, especially when she so rarely posts them herself. "We keep track of it. I think it is still something to be really, really watched," McCarthy said. "I'm sure I don't do half as good a job as I should because I'm so bad with it."
According to McCarthy, she and Falcone are "always kind of reminding them, 'Keep this in perspective. This is not real.'" She added, "I keep saying this is smoke and mirrors and entertainment, which is fine. I've said, 'It's as if somebody takes a character I've played and assumes that's the real me.' But that's an ongoing fistfight that concerns me all the time."
Learn more about Viv and Georgie ahead.
Vivian Falcone
McCarthy and Falcone's eldest daughter, Vivian, came into the world on May 5, 2007. At the time, McCarthy had a recurring role as Sookie on "Gilmore Girls," and her pregnancy was written into the script, according to People, which ruffled some fans' feathers because Sookie and her husband had been adamant about not having a third child.
Viv is eager to follow in her parents' footsteps. Her first onscreen role was portraying a younger version of McCarthy's character in the 2016 film "The Boss," though McCarthy was initially reluctant to let her be in the film. "They kept asking and we said no for months and [then] my oldest said, 'Am I not allowed to even try?'" McCarthy told E! News. "She's very smart and I said, 'That's good, you went right to it because I certainly can't say you're not allowed to try.' So we spent the next month seeing really if she'd do it. She did great."
Georgette Falcone
Vivian got promoted to big sister on March 22, 2010, thanks to little sister Georgette's arrival. While Georgie also made a cameo in "The Boss," McCarthy thinks she has a bright future as a stunt double — so much so, she bought Georgie a baby stunt vest.
"Well, for your typical 10-year-old, I got her a Hong Kong harness," McCarthy said of her youngest's birthday gift during an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." "It's what you use. It's a stunt harness, which is what you wear if you're being jerked up or if you're in a fight scene. Or if you're in an explosion in a movie, it'll pull you back. And that's all she really wanted."
Georgette also practices the violin. In 2021, McCarthy told DeGeneres that Georgie was learning Japanese and had a passion for anime. "She's so into anime, she'll just go upstairs, and we're about to go to school, and she comes down, and there's a full band of yellow [from eye to eye], and she's like 'I'm ready for school,'" McCarthy said on the show.