Melissa McCarthy

FOR MELISSA MCCARTHY, PLAYING URSULA IN THE LIVE-ACTION REMAKE of The Little Mermaid (May 26) began with terror. "That song ["Poor Unfortunate Souls"] looms so large for me that if I can't do it, I shouldn't be doing it."

- H. Alan Scott

Fortunately for us, she did do it-and did it well. That's partly because she saw Ursula as more than just a villain. "She's not just ostracized, she's isolated...She is such a complicated character." The animated Ursula was heavily inspired by the drag queen Divine, which made the character even more rich for McCarthy. "There has never been a world without drag. And I do not care to ever see a world without drag." Directed by Rob Marshall and with Halle Bailey as Ariel, McCarthy has nothing but praise for them. "He did this beautiful thing. He built the world we all want to live in. There's variety there. It's like everybody wins. Everybody has their seat at the table. Halle leads this movie with such strength. T