“I think she didn’t like what I was doing,” Moore explained. “I think that her idea of where the character was was different than where my idea of where the character was, and so she fired me.”
The movie was originally going to star Moore as real-life literary forger Lee Israel and be directed by Holofcener. The part eventually wound up being given to McCarthy, 48, who was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar earlier this year. Director Marielle Heller also took over for Holofcener, who went on to receive an Oscar nomination for her screenplay.
Moore said that she had been let go during preproduction, before the movie had begun shooting. When asked if she had seen the movie, Moore said no.
“I haven’t yet, ’cause it’s still kind of painful,” she said. “I love Melissa McCarthy, I worship her, I think she’s fantastic, so I’m sure she’s great.”
“It’s pretty bad,” the actress added. “The only other time I was fired was when I was working at a yogurt stand when I was 15. So yeah, it felt bad.”
The film received three Oscar nominations in the end, including a Best Supporting Actor nod for Richard E. Grant.
This article originally appeared in PEOPLE.