Ahead of her villainous performance as the iconic Ursula the Sea Witch in the live action remake of The Little Mermaid, comedic superstar Melissa McCarthy opened up about her lengthy career in Hollywood and some of the experiences that did not go so swimmingly.
While McCarthy has nothing but praise for her co-stars over the years (she’ll make a Bridesmaid sequel “right now,” she says), there was one notable acting gig that made McCarthy and her husband Ben Falcone insist on a “crazy check” for all of their productions where they “demand” kindness.
“You know, we were so astounded and grateful at getting to build our own little worlds, we were like, “We have to build the one we’ve always talked about, where everybody gets to have an opinion and everyone is really nice. It’s going to run a lot better with no screamers or crazy egos bumbling around. Why would we risk destroying that?’” McCarthy said before revealing more about her toxic experience.
Via The Guardian:
“I did work for someone once who ran such a volatile, hostile set that it made me physically ill. My eyes were swelling up, I was absorbing all of this nuttiness.” What did it look like? “There were people weeping, visibly so upset by this one person. And I think that’s why the manipulation worked, because to get to me, this person would fire people I loved, which kept me quiet. It was very effective. Then one day, I was like, ‘It stops today!’ I just kept saying to them, it stops, it stops. And I know now I’ll never keep quiet again.”
True to her word, McCarthy has been gushing about her The Little Mermaid co-star Halle Bailey for almost a year now. Here’s McCarthy talking about the first time she heard Bailey sing, and that it was so powerful, she literally started crying. (And may have freaked Bailey out a bit.)
this was so kind
miss you @melissamccarthy
https://t.co/aYCnwTu3SB
— Halle (@HalleBailey) June 10, 2022
The Little Mermaid splashes into theaters on May 26.
(Via The Guardian)