‘Bridesmaids’ Food Poisoning Scene Had ‘Lots of Outrageous Stuff’ That Was Later Cut
Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph made us all look at wedding boutiques differently after Bridesmaids, their 2011 hit comedy. The film turned 10 this year, conjuring up images of that famously hilarious food poisoning sequence which had all the ladies running and squatting for their lives.
Wiig, Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne, and Wendi McLendon-Covey each nailed their respective reactions, making the audience sympathize with their experience. What makes it more interesting is that the director wanted to up the gross factor but had to reel it in.
‘Bridesmaids’ food poisoning scenes were way more graphic
Sum up the famous Bridesmaids scene in one word, and people will say, “diarrhea.” Those poor women walked into that bridal shop in good spirits and left it in shambles. And Maya Rudolph’s drop in the street is now the stuff of movie legend. But originally, there was supposed to be more torture for Annie, Lillian, Megan, Helen, Becca, and Rita. Can you imagine?
During a 2021 interview with Total Film, director Paul Feig said they shot additional footage, but things went too far, so they left it out.
“Anytime I watch those scenes I feel so sad for the actors, and I never want the audience to have that feeling — but I relate to it because it could happen to me,” he said. “You’ve just got to go for it, so we basically shot lots of outrageous stuff.”
“We shot a lot of extra stuff that didn’t make it in,” Feig shared. “We had an alternate ending where they’re all sweating and suddenly you hear this big burp, and Melissa’s standing there with vomit covering the entire front of her body. We also had a scene where Ellie Kemper runs into the bathroom, sees Rita blocking the toilet and runs down the hallway, thinking there’s another bathroom. It’s actually the store owner’s all-white office and she projectile vomits across the room onto the wedding portrait of her and her husband.”
Rather than rely on visuals for those scenes, they implied what happened with the characters’ movements and dialogue. “When Melissa’s on the toilet, you never hear her sh*tting or fart sounds because then you’d feel bad.” Feig added that the moment was funny because she told people to look away. The audience knew exactly what happened, and the actors were able to keep their dignity.
At first, the food poisoning scenario did not exist
Originally, the diarrhea debacle was not part of the script. Wiig’s Annie was slated to go try on a bridesmaid’s dress and indulge in a daydream with Matt Damon. Feig told Esquire that they switched it up because it didn’t add to the story.
“Then it was a very funny scene in the dressing room where Annie puts on this dress, and it’s so beautiful and expensive that she has a romance novel fantasy about what her life would be like in that dress. It was funny and silly, but we all felt like it wasn’t quite telling the story of this rivalry between Annie and Helen, fighting over the soul of Lillian and for possession of their best friend,” he said.
Kristen Wiig was not on board
It took some convincing to get Wiig and her Bridesmaids co-writer Annie Mumolo to go along with nasty bit. Back in 2017, Wiig spoke about it on The Hollywood Reporter’s podcast and stated that those in charge wanted “to see women acting like guys.”
She added that she had no desire to see vomiting or any other bodily function put on display, but they gave in to the suggestion. Bridesmaids is available to stream on Peacock, Amazon, Vudu, or Apple TV.
