DIRECTOR EXCLUSIVE
Divine Inspiration
The director of The Little Mermaid explains how they brought Ursula to life
Ursula (Melissa McCarthy): everybody shout “Boo!”
Halle Bailey as Ariel doesn’t know what’s coming for her.
HALF-WOMAN, HALF OCTOPUS, all chaos energy: Ursula is an icon. Despite having just 13 minutes of screen time in The Little Mermaid, the sea witch sauntered into our lives and never left, bewitching every child who watched Disney’s animated classic.
Originally voiced by Pat Carroll, Ursula casts a terrifying shadow over the forthcoming liveaction remake – who could bring the beloved character to life and do the role justice? Director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Into The Woods) knew it would be tricky.
“It was really daunting to think about who was going to play this part,” Marshall tells Red Alert. “I love that she was originally inspired by Divine [Harris Glenn Milstead], the wonderful drag actor, who was so original and so funny. I thought, ‘Well, who’s going to be able to bring the humour and the depth?’ Because this is now a live-action piece, it can’t just be a funny character, it has to have a great deal of depth. Who can do that and sing – really sing – and bring originality? I wanted a woman of size, too, as I thought that was important.”