To play a ‘tornado’ in ‘Yellowstone,’ Kelly Reilly became as obsessive as her fans; but the world that she created is different
The ‘Little Mermaid’ was the most memorable Disney adventure of all time, a big and brave and funny story of a plucky little mermaid who finds her way to the mysterious and beautiful world of the sea. But the idea behind it had been there from the start, in the form of a single song, “Under the Sea.” It was performed as the movie’s theme song, and soon, the song would become an icon on the pop and rock charts for decades to come. And then it vanished.
The record that launched a thousand ships was gone. And then, it was gone.
But the world that Kelly Reilly created with it — a world of fairies and sea horses and giant sharks swimming through a world of sea grasses and mermaids, where her story became her identity — is as real as it ever was. She knows the movie’s story, because she lived it, and she knows the song’s story, because her fans live it, and they live it every day.
You hear the stories, and you feel the stories, not just because it took Kelly to bring them to life, but because Kelly herself is the storyteller. How she grew up poor, and how she became rich and famous. How she became different from other girls growing up, because she was a girl who could do anything. How she became a natural performer, because she was a natural storyteller. How she grew up a little girl who loved the sea and the sea she loved, and how she went to the sea, and became an actress who loved the sea, and then got to perform and sing songs about the sea.
“I think if I were to do that theme song again, I would do it the same way,” Reilly said. “It’s just the song changed my life, and it changed thousands of lives.”
Her fans know the