Lizzo opens up about failed Little Mermaid audition for Ursula

Lizzo has reflected on her failed audition for Disney's live-action adaptation of the traditional Hans Christian Andersen fairytale The Little Mermaid.

The pop star has opened up about the process and losing out on the chance to play iconic villain Ursula to comic actor Melissa McCarthy.

Speaking to Variety, she said: "Everyone knows I auditioned in The Little Mermaid and I didn't get it. But you know, I'm fine as hell.

"That has nothing to do with Ursula, but I was down to make Ursula a THOT, shaking ass."

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Lizzo also mentioned that McCarthy, who won the role instead, knew of her audition after the two met during Adele's One Night Only concert.

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"She was like, 'Hi, I'm Melissa,' and I was like, 'Hi, I'm Melissa. And I also auditioned for Ursula.' And she was like, 'Well why the hell did I get the part?' which is a classic Melissa McCarthy thing to say."

Lizzo told McCarthy that her audition for The Little Mermaid was "terrible" just as actor Tyler Perry walked past, which "ruined [her] chances" with him, the singer joked.

Lizzo explained later that she was only joking when she referred to her audition as "terrible".

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

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It was reported last year that the new movie would be making a change to Ursula's backstory, making her related to our favourite mermaid, Ariel.

McCarthy's Ursula will be Ariel's aunt, the sister of the sea god Triton. The storyline dates back to the original animated film, but was scrapped for the final edit.

The Disney remake will be released on May 26, 2023, and stars Halle Bailey as Ariel, The Farewell star Awkwafina as the voice of Scuttle, and Room actor Jacob Tremblay as Ariel's fish friend Flounder.

Jonah Hauer-King is playing heartthrob Prince Eric, Javier Bardem is King Triton, and Hamilton star Daveed Diggs will be portraying Sebastian the crab.