"I want to be a cross-dresser who crosses over."

Latrice Royale Wants to Be Ursula in Live-Action “The Little Mermaid”

Get those thingamabobs away from my face!

RuPaul’s Drag Race legend Latrice Royale is diving to a be a part of Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, directed by Rob Marshall and starring Halle Bailey as Ariel. Oscar nominee Melissa McCarthy is rumored to be in talks to play Ursula, the voice-snatching sea witch.

In a new interview with The A.V. Club, the “chunky yet funky” All Stars fave reveals that Ursula is her favorite fictional villain.

“Oh, I should be her right now, man,” Latrice says, adding that the “’Poor Unfortunate Souls’ moment is just everything for me.”

What could Latrice motherfuckin’ Royale bring to the character? “Boooody language, baby! I’m brassy and bold and everything that she should be,” says the Werq the World star. “Oh well. I wish Melissa McCarthy the best. She’ll be cute. It’ll be cute.” Atta girl, Miss Congeniality.

Latrice goes on to count herself among underrated black drag queens who deserve a big break: “Because we work really hard but they take so much from us, you know what I mean? From the culture, from the fame. But when it comes down to the get down, we don’t get the parts. We don’t get consideration for the big roles, the blockbusters. We haven’t really, truly crossed over. I want to be a cross-dresser who crosses over.”

As for casting “Ursula-adjacent” roles? “Oh, I’d want to see Ginger Minj or Vicky Vox,” Latrice says.

A drag Ursula in The Little Mermaid wouldn’t be so far-fetched considering the character in the Oscar-winning 1989 animated film was inspired by plus-sized drag icon Divine.

Ginger Minj, noting the Divine connection, told Gay Times last year that playing Ursula is her “biggest goal.” Meanwhile, The Little Mermaid composer Alan Menken told the magazine that he “would kill” for Harvey Fierstein to do the part.

After Variety first reported that McCarthy may steal Ursula’s voice, body-positive singer Lizzo publicly campaigned for the role, retweeting a video of herself belting “Poor Unfortunate Souls” while dressed as the curvaceous sea creature last Halloween.

Gay Twitter™ seems to be largely here for Lizzo as Ursula, if not queer contenders like Minj, Alex Newell, Tituss Burgess, Eureka O’Hara, or Nina West.

Fun facts: Ursula was voiced by Pat Carroll in the animated film, Sherie Rene Scott originated the role in the 2008 Broadway musical adaptation, and Rebel Wilson memorably tackled her tentacles in a 2016 live production at the Hollywood Bowl.





