Melissa McCarthy claims her role as Ursula was inspired by drag culture

American actress Melissa McCarthy revealed in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly that she was influenced by drag when playing the role of Ursula in The Little Mermaid. 

"There's a drag queen that lives in me. I'm always right on the verge of going full-time with her,” she adds, being no stranger to the culture and influence of drag. She paid a tribute to Divine on the cover shoot of an Entertainment Weekly issue back in 2011. She also used to perform in clubs towards the start of her career under the drag persona of Miss Y.

She further added that she wanted to bring to Ursula the same elements she likes to see in drag queens: "To keep the humour and the sadness and the edginess to Ursula is everything I want in a character — and frankly, everything I want in a drag queen."