April 10, 2023
'The Little Mermaid' Star Melissa McCarthy Talks about Ursula's Drag Queen Roots
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
"The Little Mermaid" star Melissa McCarthy revealed how she drew on her drag roots – and an iconic queen from the past – for her rendition of Ursula in the upcoming live-action remake, Deadline reports.
The outlet relayed that McCarthy "looked to her origins performing in New York City under the drag name Miss Y" in portraying the character.
It wasn't too much of a stretch. "There's a drag queen that lives in me," McCarthy told Entertainment Weekly in an interview, adding, "I'm always right on the verge of going full-time with her."
Looming even larger in Ursula's drag DNA is legendary performer Divine, who, composer Alan Menken told EW, was also an inspiration for Ursula.
McCarthy's character Ursula serves as the story's antagonist, exploiting the forbidden love between mermaid princess Ariel and human prince Eric for her own ends.
"The new film refreshes Ursula's origin story to make the tentacled sorceress the estranged sister of King Triton, a familial twist first introduced in the 2008 Broadway musical version of the animated movie," EW noted.
"She's the villain, but there's such an edge to her," McCarthy told EW. "It's like she's had too many martinis alone. Her friends are eels. That is a woman who has seen it, been in it, dug her way back out. All my references are terrible, but I kept thinking, 'Many a Pall Mall has this woman had.' "
McCarthy drew a direct comparison between Ursula and the venerable art of drag performance, saying, "To keep the humor and the sadness and the edginess to Ursula is everything I want in a character – and frankly, everything I want in a drag queen."
"McCarthy shares the big screen with Halle Bailey, who plays Ariel, and Jonah Hauer-King, who portrays Prince Eric. The cast also includes Javier Bardem as King Triton, along with Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay and Noma Dumezweni, among others," Deadline noted of the film, which is slated for a May 26 release. Watch the film's tailer below.
