Melissa Rivers to play mom

Melissa Rivers portrays her own mother, Joan Rivers, in the upcoming film Joy, which stars Jennifer Lawrence as Joy Mangano, creator of the Miracle Mop. Rivers appears in a scene that takes place at the QVC studios, where Joan first meets Joy and offers her advice on her outfit, naturally.

The comedian had begun selling her jewellery, clothing and beauty products on the home shopping network in 1990, and had amassed over $1 billion in sales by the time of her death in 2014.

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Melissa talked about her preparation for the uncanny role. “I worked hard on her speech pattern, but not so much the accent because I didn’t want it to be an imitation or a caricature,” she said. The actress subsequently teared up, which isn’t too surprising.

She added “I can’t watch myself — especially like that,” Melissa continued. “I think I was so focused on the details and trying to do a good job that it never hit me that I took this crazy emotional risk until I got home and went, ‘What did I just do?”

Joy, which also stars Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro, is out in theaters on December 25.