Melissa McCarthy Wants to Make Drag Queens 'Proud' in 'Little Mermaid' - PEOPLE

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Melissa McCarthy is paying homage to drag queens with her newest role.

The actress, 52, spoke with Deadline Monday night in Los Angeles at the world premiere of The Little Mermaid, in which she plays Ursula, the villainous sea witch opposite Halle Bailey's Ariel.

Telling the outlet she's "been a huge fan of drag" since her teen years, McCarthy added, "It's just so fun. It's irreverent. You can poke fun and pay homage to someone at the same time. It's all delicious things wrapped up in one."

She also said she has "watched [the original 1989 animated version of] The Little Mermaid more times than any other movie," thanks to her time as a nanny, "and I always was like, I know for a fact, but I couldn't prove it, that [Ursula] had to be based on Divine."

"She just had to be — I was like, the makeup, the look, the attitude. And now we know that yeah, she was, of course, based on Divine," McCarthy added.

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Melissa McCarthy as Ursula in The Little Mermaid (2023); Divine c. 1983. Disney, Shutterstock

Considering her love for drag and her own past seeing the animated film so many times, she told Deadline her experience stepping into Ursula's tentacles was a "full-circle" moment.

"I just hope to do every incredible drag queen proud and Divine proud. Just to give that same [attitude] — to give it your all, to throw it out there, no apologies, do it your way," McCarthy said. "I wanted to give [Divine] everything she was due."

McCarthy's comments at the premiere come over a decade after she channeled the Pink Flamingos actress in a cover photo shoot for Entertainment Weekly's 2011 comedy issue. She told EW last month that it's still "my favorite photo shoot I've ever done in my entire life."

Confirming that drag was a huge inspiration for her Ursula performance, the Bridesmaids actress told EW, "There's a drag queen that lives in me. I'm always right on the verge of going full-time with her."

"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," she added.

Melissa McCarthy in The Little Mermaid (2023). Courtesy of Disney

Speaking with PEOPLE last month at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, McCarthy called getting to play Ursula something of "a fever dream."

"I think it took quite a while for me to kind of digest that," she added.

The Oscar-nominated actress — who recently graced the cover of PEOPLE's 2023 Beautiful Issue — also opened up about the process of becoming the iconic Disney villain and the many "extremes" of playing the famous sea witch.

"[Ursula] is just bigger than life," McCarthy said. "So then to kind of have to live with her for that long and really think about, like, what is she afraid of? What is she insecure about? By the end, I really fell in love with her in such a different way."

The Little Mermaid is in theaters May 26.

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May 10, 2023 at 02:07AM
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Melissa McCarthy Wants to Make Drag Queens 'Proud' in 'Little Mermaid' - PEOPLE

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