Lizzo Details Her 'Little Mermaid' Ursula Audition, Reveals What Happened When She Ran Into Melissa McCarthy (Who Landed the Role)

Matt Donnelly Senior Film WriterNearly ten years ago, Sandra Bullock pledged she would never again make a sequel to one of her many memorable movies.It was 2013, the year she and Melissa McCarthy released the buddy cop comedy “The Heat” — which grossed nearly $230 million at the worldwide box office. While simultaneously making the awards rounds for “Gravity” that year, press relentlessly asked if she would return for a second film with McCarthy.“I’m not doing a sequel to ‘The Heat,'” she said at the time. “I’ve done two sequels.

Melissa McCarthy landed the dream of a lifetime when she was cast as Ursula in Disney's live-action .“I’m so excited to see it in its full glory,” the 51-year-old actress told ET’s Lauren Zima of the movie while at the27th Critics’ Choice Awards on Sunday.  “Doing the  and working with [director] Rob Marshall and doing one of my favorite villains of all time was an out of body experience,” she added.

Melissa McCarthy is talking about her unexpected vocal talents. 

It’s the night of the 2022 Critics Choice Awards and we’ll be posting photos of EVERY celeb on the red carpet in this post.

Not bothered. Melissa McCarthy is one of the most successful and highest paid actresses in Hollywood, and she’s never let her body define her — even if casting directors might have other ideas.

Kate Aurthur editorMarielle Heller has set a new first-look deal with Paramount Television Studios for her company, Defiant by Nature. Along with producing partners Havilah Brewster and Leah Holzer, Heller will develop premium television shows for the studio across its platforms.Heller came to prominence as a writer-director for 2015’s “Diary of a Teenage Girl,” for which she won an Independent Spirit Award for best first feature.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans EditorThe eighth annual Variety Artisans Awards returned to an in-person event at Santa Barbara’s Arlington Theater.Despite COVID protocols, an enthusiastic crowd of movie lovers, local Academy members and students from the nearby University of Santa Barbara came by to see Oscar-nominated artisans share their craft, their process and the films that influenced them.The night began with one on one conversations with each artisan discussing insight into their work.The full panel of honorees included “House of Gucci” hair and make up team Frederic Aspiras and Göran Lundstrom, “Nightmare Alley” production designer Tamara Deverell, “Encanto” composer Germaine Franco, “Dune” cinematographer Greig Fraser, “Encanto” songwriter Lin-Manuel Miranda, re-recording mixer, Paul Massey, nominated for “No Time to Die,” VFX supervisor Kelly Port, “The Power of the Dog” editor Peter Sciberra and “Dune” costume designers Jacqueline West and Bob Morgan.Watch the conversation highlights below.

EXCLUSIVE: Samara Weaving, who most recently appeared in Hulu’s Nine Perfect Strangers and just wrapped starring opposite Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, has signed with CAA. The agency just dropped a memo to its teams announcing the deal.

Sean Penn is opening up about Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

William Earl “Saturday Night Live” paid tribute to Ukraine in its cold open by featuring a folk chorus singing a traditional anthem from the embattled Eastern European nation while a cluster of candles spelled out “Kyiv.”The 13th episode of the late-night mainstay’s 47th season opened with stars Kate McKinnon and Cicely Strong introducing members of Ukrainian Chorus Dumka of New York. A group of male and female singers, wearing intricately embroidered traditional outfits, sang the rousing choral selection “Prayer for Ukraine,” reflecting the resilient spirit of the nation that has been under attack from Russian on multiple fronts since earlier this week.The somber setting on the “SNL” stage featured a cluster of candles and bouquets of yellow flowers, evoking Ukraine’s national colors of yellow and blue.

Lizzo was ready to make Ursula “fine as hell” is she got the role in Disney’s live-action film ‘The Little Mermaid,’ and while the 33-year-old singer ultimately didn’t get the part, she tried to get the attention of casting directors, posting videos on social media, singing the iconic song ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ in full costume, as the sea witch from the 1989 animated version.The rapper also went on to audition for the part when director Rob Marshall started casting the roles for the highly anticipated project, and after getting the support of her fans and followers online, the role was given to 51-year-old actress Melissa McCarthy.Now Lizzo is revealing how she had planned to make her interpretation of Ursula if she had been chosen for the movie. I’M URSULA.

Lizzo isn’t going to let anyone bring her down.

Lizzo is opening up about how Eddie Murphy's role as Professor Klump in  triggered a roller coaster of emotions for her — including sadness.In a wide-ranging interview for 's latest cover story, the 33-year-old singer addressed the challenges of superstardom, what it was like running into Melissa McCarthy after she beat her out for the Ursula role in Disney's live-action and her new Amazon series, .But the conversation also touched on body representation in Hollywood -- specifically, how a young Lizzo was affected by Murphy donning fat suits in films like 2007's. But a particular scene in Murphy's 1996 film, , centered around a morbidly obese but lovable university professor, really hit a nerve.«It's funny, because I’m the biggest Eddie Murphy fan of all time,» Lizzo tells.

Zack Sharf When Rob Marshall’s live-action “The Little Mermaid” debuts next year, it’ll do so with Melissa McCarthy vamping it up as the villainous sea witch Ursula. McCarthy nabbed the part over Lizzo, the Grammy Award winner who used social media to pitch herself for the “The Little Mermaid” role. One viral video of Lizzo, dressed as Ursula, belting the film’s classic song “Poor Unfortunate Souls” generated over 3 million views on Twitter.

EXCLUSIVE: All3Media-backed Little Dot Studios’ Head of Arts Catherine Bray has departed to focus on UK indie Loop.