Queen Latifah was born for this role.
Ahead of Disney’s live-action remake of 1989 animation The Little Mermaid, which is set to star singer Halle Bailey as Ariel, ABC attempted to bring the magic of the ocean to the stage in their new adaptation of the classic story.
And while The Little Mermaid Live! may have received mixed reviews from viewers when it aired this week, one thing we can all agree on is that Queen Latifah absolutely killed her performance as Ursula.
Watch a clip of her performance here or below.
The Academy Award-nominee got her time to shine during beloved musical number Poor Unfortunate Souls, and now fans have called on Disney to cast her in the upcoming big-screen remake.
“The whole costume budget for The Little Mermaid Live went towards Queen Latifah’s Ursula and I’m 1000% okay with that,” wrote one viewer on Twitter.
Another added: “Why isn’t Queen Latifah in the actual [Disney] remake?”
As it stands, it looks likely that Melissa will be playing the role of Ursula on screen, but plenty of other pop culture icons have put themselves forward, including singer-songwriter Lizzo, Drag Race star Ginger Minj, and musical legend Harvey Fierstein.
Having a drag queen play Ursula would be fitting – the story goes that the original animated Ursula was inspired by American drag icon Divine, purveyor of filth and star of John Waters films like Pink Flamingo and Hairspray.
Related: Latrice Royale wants to play Ursula in Disney’s The Little Mermaid remake
While this is all speculation for now, we do have confirmation that Halle Bailey – of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle, who opened for Beyonce on her Formation World Tour – will be playing Ariel in the new live-action adaptation.
Production on The Little Mermaid is expected to begin in early 2020, so don’t expect this one to hit your local cinema screen for a while.
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