‘Marry Me’ Standout Michelle Buteau Is Prepping for Her Own Rom-Com Story, ‘Survival of the Thickest’

variety.com:

Angelique Jackson There are not many people busier than Jennifer Lopez, but Michelle Buteau is certainly making a run at that title.

In addition to co-starring with Lopez in the new romantic comedy “Marry Me,” Buteau just wrapped filming the third season of BET’s “First Wives Club,” hosted her third season of Netflix’s “The Circle” and is gearing up to star in an eight-episode series based on her book of essays titled “Survival of the Thickest” for Netflix.

While conducting this phone interview with Variety, she’s simultaneously cooking cacio e pepe.Flashback to November 2019: Buteau was on the set of “Marry Me” with teething twins at home (Hazel and Otis, now 3 years old), all while writing her book. “I was joyfully overwhelmed,” she recalls.After years of working toward a breakthrough, “Marry Me” marked the moment in Buteau’s career where “when it rains it pours,” and she fully embraced the deluge. “Especially in comedy, when you try to go into acting and hosting, you’re going to do a bunch of stuff for free for a lot of years,” she says. “So, now you’re making money, you need to show up and show out.”In the movie, Buteau plays Melissa, the longtime assistant to Lopez’s pop star character Kat.“When I read the script, I just loved the character because she’s sassy and she tells it like it is, and she’s not a fan of Charlie (Owen Wilson) from the jump, because she’s like ‘Why would you date a nerd?’” she says, with a chuckle. “I felt like I could find so many funny moments with it.”In some moments, “Marry Me” felt like art imitating life.

For example, “Jennifer does have a blinged out water bottle,” Buteau says, referencing the bejeweled Swell bottle her character carries around for Kat.