Melissa McCarthy recalls ‘volatile’ set experience that made her ‘physically ill’

Melissa McCarthy has revealed how working on a “hostile” set environment left her “physically ill”.

The American actor, who portrays Ursula in Disney’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, has enjoyed an illustrious career in Hollywood, starring in hit comedies Bridesmaids, 21 Jump Street and The Heat.

And while she enjoys much success, the 52-year-old admitted that her rise to the top hasn’t always been enjoyable as she detailed working for a difficult individual in the past that was so “volatile” she was left sick by the experience.

She told The Observer: “I did work for someone once who ran such a volatile, hostile set that it made me physically ill. My eyes were swelling up, I was absorbing all of this nuttiness.”

Asked about what she witnessed on set, she recalled: “There were people weeping, visibly so upset by this one person.

“And I think that’s why the manipulation worked, because to get to me, this person would fire people I loved, which kept me quiet. It was very effective.

“Then one day, I was like, ‘It stops today!’ I just kept saying to them, it stops, it stops. And I know now I’ll never keep quiet again.”

The Gilmore Girls star did not name the person in question.

The screenwriter’s comments come after her The Little Mermaid co-star Halle Bailey, who plays land-loving mermaid Ariel in the feature, praised McCarthy for encouraging her to speak up for herself on set.

The 22-year-old told CNN: “She was telling me, ‘Yeah, I had to learn. I wasn’t always this way, and when you’re young, you’re timid.’”

She added that McCarthy told her that it wasn’t until she got older that she learned how to “speak up and [say] what works for” her.

Bailey added that it was “really cool” to watch McCarthy “come onto set and be just so comfortable with who she was in her skin and (to see) her standing up for herself”.