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Melissa McCarthy said drag queens were "100 percent" an influence behind her portrayal of the tentacled sea witch Ursula in the upcoming live-action "The Little Mermaid" flick set to hit theaters on Memorial Day weekend.
McCarthy recently joined costar Halle Bailey and director Rob Marshall to discuss the upcoming film with Entertainment Weekly where she gave a brief spiel about her history with drag performances and how her drag queen persona spilled over into her portrayal of the infamous villainess.
"There's a drag queen that lives in me. I'm always right on the verge of going full-time with her," she told the outlet in an interview published earlier this month.
Actress Melissa McCarthy on NBC's TODAY Show on Tuesday June 7, 2022 (Photo by: Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images)
She gushed over the character as "everything I want in a drag queen," pointing to Ursula's "sadness" and "edginess" that work in harmony with humor to create the flamboyant, white-haired, purple-skinned sea witch whose exaggerated makeup has been a long-standing trademark since she hit the big screen in animated form over 30 years ago.
GUY FIERI RESPONDS TO SUGGESTION THAT HE PLAY URSULA IN LIVE-ACTION ‘LITTLE MERMAID’ REMAKE
McCarthy reportedly got her start in drag, performing in Manhattan clubs under the drag persona "Miss Y," a persona she discussed in more detail in a 2017 discussion with Rolling Stone Magazine where she detailed wearing "a gold lamé swing coat" paired with heavy eyelashes and a huge wig.
She claims she carried that persona over into her live-action rendition of the half-squid villainess, who acts as the estranged sister of Princess Ariel's father King Triton.
Melissa McCarthy as the flamboyant sea witch Ursula in the live-action "Little Mermaid" film. (Walt Disney Studios/YouTube)
More specifically, the outlet notes that the Drag queen Divine, who McCarthy channeled for a cover shoot with Entertainment Weekly in 2011, was behind the novel take on the character.
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McCarthy has been outspoken in identifying herself as an ally for the drag performing community, notoriously sharing an Instagram post about drag performers that set off a debate online.
"You've been entertained by drag queens your whole life," the post read. "Don't pretend it's a problem now."
The post contained images of late actor Robin Williams from the 1993 comedy "Mrs. Doubtfire," Dustin Hoffman as in the 1982 Sydney Pollack film "Tootsie," actor Jamie Farr dressed as Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger from the popular 1970s and 1980s military television series M*A*S*H, and an image of Bugs Bunny, among others, all of which dressed in drag for entertainment purposes.
Latin drag queen from bogota Colombia between 30 and 39 years old, presents her theatrical work to her followers during the performance inside the theater on the day of gay pride (iStock)
The criticism closely followed the state of Tennessee's infamous legislation barring adult performances from public spaces in The Volunteer State after Gov. Bill Lee, R., signed the bill into law last month.
Mixed reactions poured in on the post, with some slamming the star as "another woke celebrity" while others rushed to her defense and said that drag performances for children – particularly in the form of drag story time – is filled with "nothing but love, music and beautiful performers…."
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