Melissa McCarthy and Nina West Shared a Beautiful Moment at The Little Mermaid Premiere

The Little Mermaid live-action remake hasn’t yet been released to general audiences, and Ursula is already stealing the show. On the “blue carpet” for the film’s world premiere on Monday, Ursula actress Melissa McCarthy encountered Drag Race’s Nina West, dressed in her own interpretation of the iconic sea witch. The meeting of these two Ursulas sent shockwaves over land and sea.

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A post shared by Nina West (@ninawest)

Nina West posted a video of the full encounter on Instagram. Upon spotting one another, McCarthy and West repeatedly bow down, chanting, “It’s everything I’ve ever wanted,” as though casting a spell. After sharing an inaudible but clearly emotional conversation, the two pose for pictures while singing “Sisters” from the classic musical White Christmas.

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While the scene is cute, the lighting within the scene is not.

West’s interpretation of Ursula featured green hair, a green and black top, and a frilled purple, magenta, silver, and black skirt. Across her midriff was a sash bearing Urusula’s famous incantation, “Beluga Sevruga, Come winds of the Caspian Sea! Larengix glaucitis, et max laryngitis. La voce to me!”

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A post shared by Nina West (@ninawest)

West’s look was designed by Florence D’Lee, Elle Emenopé, and Kályd Sebastian Odeh. The direction was based on the colors from the incantation scene as Ursula robs Ariel of her voice. The lyrical sash was also a subtle homage to drag legend Divine, who inspired the character.

“The look is inspired by Ursula looking into her cauldron, with the words of her incantation enveloping her…the words of Howard Ashman, who also introduced the idea of Divine as an inspiration for the character,”  explained West. “It is a celebration of perfectly powerful queer art and the power of drag.”

Ursula’s current actress, Melissa McCarthy, started out her career as a drag performer. She recently told Rolling Stone that in the early 90s, when she barely had any money to her name, she would perform standup and go club hopping as the drag queen Miss Y. More recently, McCarthy has stood up to the slew of anti-drag legislation sweeping across the US, both to her 11.8 million followers on social media and in the recent “Drag isn’t Dangerous” telethon.

Unfortunately, the meeting of the two Ursulas is painful evidence that this entire movie should have been an ensemble cast of drag queen Ursulas and nothing else. Instead, we’ll have to settle for the one Ursula when The Little Mermaid hits theaters on May 26.