Melissa McCarthy graces the cover of the upcoming Rolling Stone issue in which she claims to have been a drag queen.

When McCarthy moved to New York at age 20, her roommate, Brian Atwood, a friend from home who would go on to become a popular shoe designer, suggested she try stand-up. “I really dressed to rival a drag queen, for sure,” she recalls. (“It was the time of Lady Miss Kier, RuPaul and Lady Bunny,” says Atwood.) “I had a gold lamé swing coat on, a huge wig, big eyelashes,” McCarthy recalls. “I talked about being incredibly wealthy and beautiful and living extravagantly.”

Her drag name was Miss Y (“Melissa”s can go by Missy, did you get where she went with that one?) Obviously she’s a clever lady and she’s redefining what a leading lady should look like. Check out the rest of the story in the summer double issue on newsstands Friday. Then go see her new movie, “Tammy” in theaters July 2.