What Melissa McCarthy Told Lizzo After Singer Lost Out on Ursula Role In The Little Mermaid

Speaking with Variety for a new cover story, Lizzo opened up a bit about her audition for the project and revealed what McCarthy told her when they ran into each other during the filming of Adele's "One Night Only" concert last fall.

"Everyone knows I auditioned for Ursula in 'The Little Mermaid' and I didn't get it. But you know, I'm fine as hell," she told the publication. "That has nothing to do with Ursula, but I was down to make Ursula a THOT, shaking ass."

"You know what’s crazy? At the Adele show, I ran into Melissa McCarthy, because she [got cast as] Ursula. She was like, 'Hi, I’m Melissa.' And I was like, 'Hi, I'm Melissa. And I also auditioned for Ursula,'" said Lizzo, whose full name is Melissa Viviane Jefferson. "And she was like, 'Well, why the hell did I get the part?,' which is a classic Melissa McCarthy thing to say."

"And then I was like, 'Girl, because my audition was terrible.' And I say that as Tyler Perry walks by. And I was like — ruined my chances there," Lizzo continued. "And then she goes, 'This is my daughter Vivian.' And I’m like, 'Get out of here, because my name is Melissa Viviane.' We were looking at each other like, 'What the hell is going on?'"

While she told McCarthy her audition was terrible, she admitted it actually wasn't when pressed on the comment.

"Sometimes I like to make jokes. My audition was good. You can ask Disney," she explained. "I don't want to talk too much about it. The singing was great. I'll just say that."

Releasing next year, "The Little Mermaid" will star Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Awkwafina as Scuttle and Jacob Tremblay as Flounder.

The movie is due out May 26, 2023.