Melissa McCarthy Supports Inclusivity with Powerful Message: 'We Need It. We Crave it' (Exclusive)

The Little Mermaid star graces the cover of PEOPLE's 2023 Beautiful Issue

So what first went through Melissa McCarthy's mind when she heard that she'd been chosen to grace the cover of PEOPLE's 2023 Beautiful Issue? "Did my mom and my dad have the two main votes?" the actress says in this week's cover story.

All joking aside, the Little Mermaid star admits she was "incredibly flattered" over the honor.

"I thought the younger version of myself or everybody out there who isn't the youngest or whatever... I felt like it was saying something really lovely to my younger self, to my 20-year-old self," she says. "And maybe to other people, too."

Thinking back to her high school years, McCarthy, 52, now realizes she was trying to find herself. "I feel like the first two years were like, 'We're all going to dress alike.' Nobody wants to stand out too much. And then I was like, I think 'I'm bored,'" she recalls.

"And then came the Mohawks and the blue hair. I mean, on the outside, I was a really good punk and gothic kid, but then I was terrible because I was really chatty. So I looked like I was going to maybe get into a fist fight. And then I was like, 'Hi! What's your name?'"

For more of McCarthy's exclusive interview, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE on newsstands Friday.

It was also the first time McCarthy was exposed to judgment and criticism. "I was fascinated because when I walked down the street and I looked like that, it was the first time that I'd ever had people kind of make fun of me or say really mean things to me, even adults," she says.

Related:Melissa McCarthy's Ursula Makes a Deal with The Little Mermaid in New Footage from Remake: Watch

"I just kept thinking, 'You don't know me, I didn't do anything to you.' It was a real big eye-opener that people are just judging left and right. Luckily, instead of going back into my shell, I think that made me want to seek out people doing that more. Because I was like, that's so much more fun."

For McCarthy, inclusivity is "not just wonderful, we need it. We crave it. It's like everybody just, you want to be loved. I want to be loved," she says.

"And when someone's being their authentic self and it hurts no one else in the world... The simplest rule is: Just be kind. Nobody has to think the same things. It's okay to be curious and be like, I don't understand what someone else is doing. I mean, isn't that what love is? Loving who you love just puts more love in the world. And that has never, ever been a bad thing."

The Little Mermaid swims into theaters on May 26.

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