Melissa McCarthy says her Ursula in The Little Mermaid live-action film is a tribute to drag queens

Melissa McCarthy says her portrayal of Ursula in the upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid is a tribute to drag performers.

Considering Disney's 1989 version of the evil sea witch was based on Divine, a performer once dubbed 'Drag Queen of the Century' by People magazine, this is fantastic news.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, McCarthy revealed drag was '100 per cent' a source she drew from to step into the many-tentacled suit of Ursula.

"There's a drag queen that lives in me. I'm always right on the verge of going full-time with her," McCarthy said.

And the 52-year-old star really wasn't kidding when she said she has a drag queen that lives inside her.

Her inner queen used to make an appearance on the outside, too.

McCarthy revealed in a 2014 interview with Rolling Stone she actually started out her career as a drag performer.

She first dipped her toe into the ocean that is showbiz as a stand-up comedian with a drag persona named Miss Y.

"It was such a happy, good feeling, and it gave me such confidence,” McCarthy said of her times in her 20s when she took the stage as Miss Y.

Luckily for McCarthy, she was able to reignite that performing flame in her take on Ursula.

Speaking of new takes, the live-action remake will give us an update on Ursula's origin story.

Disney

In the new movie, the tentacled terror turns out to be the estranged sister of King Triton.

The upcoming movie's producer John DeLuca dubbed Ursula the 'black sheep' of Triton's family in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

But McCarthy reckons Ursula's motivations sink to new depths in the 2023 take on The Little Mermaid.

"She's the villain, but there's such an edge to her. She's been put in this lair. It's like she's had too many martinis alone. Her friends are eels. That is a woman who has seen it, been in it, dug her way back out," she told Entertainment Weekly.

"All my references are terrible, but I kept thinking, 'Many a Pall Mall [cigarette] has this woman had'."

McCarthy then revealed the blurred lines between Ursula and drag is precisely what made portraying her just so magical.

She added: "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."