Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo struck pay dirt when they wrote the script for Bridesmaids. Not only was the female-centered, R-rated comedy filled with the kind of consistent laughs and sight gags that help make the film just as enjoyable during repeat viewings, but it was (as you may remember) also one of the biggest hits of 2011. Now, though, we know that the film could have been a bit darker, as Wiig has revealed that she and Mumolo had a gag planned which would have involved a dead woman.
While the idea of Bridesmaids touching on something that, in theory, could have been so serious might sound like an idea that's completely left of center, let's not forget just how funny Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig made explosive diarrhea and a whole host of other things which can cause a lot of stress in real life. The writing partners spoke with the New York Times about their recently released comedy Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, and when asked whether or not Bridesmaids had included more absurdist humor like their new film, Wiig said:
When we were running around to find Lillian [the bride, played by Maya Rudolph], we were going to find a woman lying on the ground. We’re like, 'It’s Lillian — she’s dead!' And then we were like, 'Oh wait — it’s not Lillian.' And then we just keep running.
If you've seen Bridesmaids, and I certainly hope you have by this point, you can probably imagine how this would have been worked into the film and, likely, fit right in. Kristen Wiig also noted that she and Annie Mumolo had, originally, planned for there to be a couple of musical numbers in the movie, so they clearly had a lot of plans for even more wackiness to ensue than it did.
Of course, toward the end of Bridesmaids, we've been watching Wiig's character, Annie, endure events as her life quickly falls apart while her best friend, Lillian, is preparing for her wedding and the happiest time of her life. But, yet another potential wrench has been thrown into the mix, as Annie's movie-long nemesis, Helen (Rose Byrne), asks for help finding Lillian on the day of her wedding.
As Wiig tells it, when the two are searching for the (supposed) runaway bride, they happen upon a dead woman lying on the ground and think it was their friend, only to realize it wasn't and happily ignore that they just found a dead body so they could keep looking for Lillian.
Wiig and Mumolo didn't say why the gag was cut from the script, but I can totally see this being a perfectly shocking funny moment among the many others in Bridesmaids. If you'll recall, the search for Lillian led to Annie and Helen mending fences and being able to clear a way for Lillian's friends to become friendly in their own right. I'm sure eventually dealing with the fact that they found a dead woman would have been able to help that bonding along, and trust that Wiig and Mumolo could have made such a moment oddly funny.
You can relive the (dead body-free) joys of Bridesmaids on Amazon and a variety of other streaming services, and also check out Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo in their new film, Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar, which is available to stream right now.
