Melissa McCarthy has revealed how full of nerves she was taking on the role of Ursula in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.
The Bridesmaids actress, 52, takes on the role of the villain in the highly-anticipated Disney film, which stars Halle Bailey, Jonah Hauer-King, Simone Ashley and Jacob Tremblay.
As she takes on the frightening role, Melissa has now revealed how nervous she was and how much preparation she needed.
‘I loved Ursula always, and the more we just kept talking about it, I kept thinking of her like she’s in a constant cabaret act,’ Melissa began on Tuesday’s The One Show.
She continued: ‘I worked for many, many months because singing is not my normal area, I was so nervous, and Pat Caroll did it so beautifully in the original.
‘I was terrified. Terrified and then eventually I was like, “Well you’re going to bomb or you have to let all the nerves go and just take a swing at it.”
‘So that’s what I did.’
As well as preparing for the singing-side of her character, Melissa also needed some help with the tentacles.
She said: ‘The rehearsal process, and you never get a rehearsal process for films usually, we had all of this time to rehearse and when we first got there, [the costume designer Colleen Attwood] ordered me this beautiful rehearsal outfit.
‘And I was like, you get different rehearsal outfits? Only in Colleen’s world.’
Melissa went on to explain that with her belt, she had eight ten-foot long tentacles.
‘Each one was puppeted by a dancer, and I was like, “This is too much work for everybody.”
‘And [director] Rob Marshall was like, “No I want you to know the space you hold, and I want you to know how imposing you are when you’re 25 feet up.”
‘You know, I was never on the ground, and suddenly, I was like, “Oh”, this is a very short woman suddenly 20 feet up and 30 feet across, and I was like “I can pick on people.”‘
She added: ‘Everyone looked so tiny, it really was amazing.’
Elsewhere, Melissa praised her co-star Halle, calling her ‘a remarkable young woman.’
The 23-year-old actress has been sharing adorable moments with young fans in awe of the princess actress.
Melissa commented: ‘You just see all these young kids and young girls at the premiere, any little kid that was there, when Halle walks by them they’re like [gasps], they’re gasping and they should because she’s worthy of a gasp.
‘You see them fill with everything, they’re seeing themselves represented and the whole movie is a love letter to the world we live in, which is diverse and different and wonderful.
‘You have to embrace it.’
The One Show airs weekdays from 7pm on The One Show.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE : Jacob Tremblay talks ‘voice cracks’, singing sessions and ‘embodying’ Flounder in The Little Mermaid
MORE : Jonah Hauer-King found it ‘terrifying’ debuting Prince Eric’s brand-new song in The Little Mermaid
0 Comments