Melissa McCarthy describes ‘Little Mermaid’ villain Ursula as ‘Gal I want to have a drink with’

Actress Melissa McCarthy heard Rob Marshall was putting the pieces together for a live-action take on Disney’s ‘The Little Mermaid’; she vowed to do whatever she could to snag the role of Ursula, the sea witch.

“I was so terrified, and there were moments when I felt like, aI have no business trying to meet with Rob Marshall, but if I don’t do it, I will regret it for the rest of my life,'” McCarthy told hollywoodreporter.com.

It went well: “We kind of hit it off. He’s such a remarkable and lovely human.”

Living through a pandemic also helped her get inside Ursula’s head.

“Thinking about how much time she spent in isolation and what that had done to her mental state and paranoia, I was able to connect with her in new ways,” she explained.

“Ursula is so damaged and such a juicy, dishy, conniving broad. I’ve always been, like, That’s the girl I want to have a drink with.”