Kathy Bates might not be the first person you think of when the term “blowing up shit” is thrown around, but the veteran actress saw her share of it in the upcoming film Tammy, and she says it was a blast.

Bates worked with Melissa McCarthy and Susan Sarandon on the film, which centers on McCarthy’s luckless character and follows her on a road trip with her grandmother (Sarandon), who drinks like a fish and curses like a sailor. Bates plays a cousin who takes in the two women when their trip gets out of control. So out of control, in fact, that Molotov cocktails are involved.

“I held one a little too long and it exploded in my hand. It was sugar glass, so you really had to throw it quickly once the end of the cloth was lit. It was fun to blow up shit–or pretend that you were blowing up shit–and not be arrested,” Bates said.

Bates says the main reason she took the role was because of her admiration for McCarthy, and compared her to Lucille Ball.

“The main reason for doing it was Melissa McCarthy. I had seen her in Bridesmaids, and I wish I could be as clever, wonderful and physical in comedy as she is. I wanted to get to know her; I really wanted to understand her secret. I wondered, ‘How can she stay so real yet push the envelope the way she does, physically and comedically?’ I can see a comparison in her and Lucille Ball in the way Melissa fearlessly goes places that a lot of actresses wouldn’t go. She’s nimble, quick and fearless. When we were all doing our improv scenes for the film, we were just shameless trying to be as good as Melissa because she raises the bar — but of course, we fell short,” she said.

Tammy opens on Friday, July 4.

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