She’s our very own Ursula in this May’s The Little Mermaid, she appeared formerly as Dr. Abby Yates in 2016’s Ghostbusters alongside Leslie Jones and her Bridesmaids co-stars Kristen Wiig and Kate McKinnon, she’s hosted SNL numerous times, enlivened many an awards show, and is simply the eighth Wonder of the World — there isn’t a whole lot that actress, screenwriter, producer, and comedian Melissa McCarthy can’t do. Back in 2016, McCarthy was even named by Time as one of the 100 most influential people in the world, and remains one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood’s expansive amalgam.
McCarthy’s career kickstarted in the late 1990s, beginning with a recurring role as Sookie on Gilmore Girls that soon became stints on the sitcoms Samantha Who? and Mike & Molly. For the latter, which was one of her first lead roles, McCarthy won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 2011. Moreover, frequent appearances on Saturday Night Live led to a win for McCarthy in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series category. It wasn’t until 2011 that the now-53-year-old rose to international stardom for her part as Megan Price in Bridesmaids, alongside an ensemble cast in Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, and Wendi McLendon-Covey. From that moment on, McCarthy would star in endless comedies, many of which comprise the below list.
For one of her best portrayals to date, McCarthy earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress in the biographical film Can You Ever Forgive Me? in 2018. As we all know, McCarthy will be following in Pat Carroll’s footsteps (and what big shoes to fill) as she dons drag-inspired makeup to bring The Little Mermaid‘s nefarious villainess, Ursula the sea witch, to live-action. She’s had a long and lustrous career before now, but even in her early 50s, the world is still her oyster (pardon the pun). For long-time McCarthy followers or fresh-faced newcomers, here are all her feature film roles to date, listed for your convenience in order of release:
- God (1998)
- Go (1999)
- Charlie’s Angels (2000)
- Drowning Mona (2000)
- Auto Motives (2000)
- Disney’s The Kid (2000)
- Pumpkin (2002)
- The Third Wheel (2002)
- White Oleander (2002)
- The Life of David Gale (2003)
- Chicken Party (2003)
- Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
- Cook Off! (2007)
- The Nines (2007)
- The Captain (2007)
- Just Add Water (2008)
- Pretty Ugly People (2008)
- The Back-Up Plan (2010)
- Life as We Know It (2010)
- Bridesmaids (2011)
- This Is 40 (2012)
- Identity Thief (2013)
- The Hangover Part III (2013)
- The Heat (2013)
- Tammy (2014)
- St. Vincent (2014)
- Spy (2015)
- The Boss (2016)
- Central Intelligence (2016)
- Ghostbusters (2016)
- Life of the Party (2018)
- The Happytime Murders (2018)
- Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018)
- The Kitchen (2019)
- Superintelligence (2020)
- Thunder Force (2021)
- The Starling (2021)
- Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)
- The Little Mermaid (2023)
Upcoming
- Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story (TBA)
- Bernard and the Genie (TBA)
We’re just a few days shy of The Little Mermaid‘s release date, but from what we’ve seen of a few exclusive clips and a snippet of McCarthy’s rendition of “Poor Unfortunate Souls” (arguably one of Disney’s best original songs), this live-action adaptation might surprise us all and meet each and every one of our expectations.
The Little Mermaid arrives in theaters on May 26.
