Melissa McCarthy punched Jason Bateman, gave him a bloody nose while filming ‘Identity Thief’

Melissa McCarthy packs a whole lot of punches in her upcoming comedy with Jason Bateman, but she also saved a few real-life wallops for her co-star, both actors told Yahoo! Movies on Friday. And oh yeah, she thought Bateman was really dreamy during his stint on '80s sitcom "Silver Spoons."

In "Identity Thief," Bateman plays a mild mannered family man with a self proclaimed unisex first name: Sandy. Taking advantage of the gender neutrality of his moniker, McCarthy plays loud-living, shopaholic serial criminal Diana. And she has stolen his identity.

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With his family's financial future on the line, Sandy must track Diana down to bring her to justice and clear his name with the cops and his new boss. When he does find her -- boy, does she fight. So many punches were thrown by McCarthy during filming that she accidentally hit Bateman -- twice! -- and gave him a bloody nose.

"She got my nose… a couple of nose shots. Yeah. This bleeds," Bateman told Yahoo! Movies during an interview in West Hollywood. "It’s a real gusher," McCarthy added.

[Related: Showtimes near you for 'Identity Thief']

Apparently the 42-year-old former Oscar nominee felt no need to apologize, and instead presented a funny present to Bateman after filming was complete. "All I got was a snapshot of a tissue cone up my nose that she took and then gave to me as a wrap gift," he said, adding, "So it wasn’t an apology or anything like that – just a ‘Look what I did! Isn’t this a cute picture!’" McCarthy chimed in, "You look very cute in the picture with Kleenex stuffed up your nose."

Bateman, who is also a producer on the film, wanted as much promotional mileage from the moment he could get: "We shoulda got that for the DVD extras or the Blu-ray." McCarthy agreed, "I know!"

In "Identity Thief," Bateman does hit back. But is it ever okay to rough house a woman? "She knows how to hit back. And if she’s lippin’ off, this is what happens. You know – you get thrown down to the hot pavement," the 44-year-old Golden Globe winner joked. McCarthy answered facetiously, "True. I learned my lesson," adding the disclaimer, "American children: asphalt’s hard." She also felt the need to point out that she did, in fact, throw the first punch. Bateman's flimsy justification: "She started it."

Bateman's 'Silver Spoons' Beginnings

Sure, Bateman is now an established film and television actor -- now also dipping his toes in producing and directing. But once, a long time ago in the '80s, he was a child television star.

When McCarthy was forced to choose her favorite of arguably his two most famous child roles, she went with "Silver Spoons" over "The Hogan Family." " That’s when I first noticed that he was dreamy... I can't resist him!" Bateman's response: "How did I know that was coming?"

He then launched into a string of jokes about the show's most famous props: "She liked the trains. She liked the little trains. What about those arcade games? That was, like, the greatest job in the world. We had those little arcade games like Pac-Man and Dragon's Lair. Me and Ricky [Schroder] would just play. You didn’t need to put a quarter in them. You’d just flick a switch! We just played and played."

McCarthy answered back with more humor: "I was doing hard labor on a farm at that age." Bateman then pointed out, "There’s winners and losers."

"Identity Thief" opens in theaters February 8.

Watch 'Identity Thief' Theatrical Trailer:

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