Melissa McCarthy’s ‘The Little Mermaid’ Makeup Artist Calls Ursula Backlash ‘Ridiculous’
Back in May, when an in the background see Melissa McCarthy’s change into Ursula for the surprisingly realistic The Little Mermaid film was shared to Twitter, web-based entertainment clients, explicitly those from the drag and LGBTQ+ people group, stood in opposition to the recruiting of the cosmetics craftsman in control, Peter Smith Ruler.That’s because the look of the under-the-sea villain in the original 1989 animation was inspired by the late drag icon Divine (whose real name was Harris Glenn Milstead), per animator Rob Minkoff. The fact that she was being brought to life in the 2023 film by a non-drag artist stirred some controversy.
Now with the film in theaters, King is responding to the backlash.
In a new interview with Insider, the pro — who’s also worked on The Lord of the Rings and Mary Poppins — used words like “offensive” and “ridiculous” to describe the comments he’s received.
“Why can’t I do as good a job as a queer makeup artist?” he said in his chat with the outlet. “That’s trying to claim it and that’s fine, if that’s what they wanna do, but don’t put people down because they’re not what they want it to be.”
King also posed the idea that a makeup artist doesn’t have to be attached to “the nature of what they’re doing.”
Melissa McCarthy becomes… 🔮#Ursula🔮 pic.twitter.com/OEcX2ccytp
— Walt Disney Studios (@DisneyStudios) May 16, 2023
He noted that, contrary to the original movie, he did not base Ursula on Divine, whom he met before her death in 1988. Instead, he said, the final look was a culmination of conversations between himself and McCarthy, 52. “We discussed everything. I mean, we both laughed about how much we love drag queens and drag makeup and stuff. But it wasn’t based on any drag acts at all,” King shared.
For her part, McCarthy has spoken about drawing from drag for her performance of Ursula, telling Deadline at the film’s recent Los Angeles premiere, “I hope to do every incredible drag queen proud.”
