Melissa McCarthy fronts People magazine’s ‘Beautiful Issue’

Melissa McCarthy is out front on this year’s People magazine “Beautiful Issue.”

The “Bridesmaids” star says being on the cover “felt like it was saying something really lovely to my younger self, to my 20-year-old self. Maybe to other people, too.”

People on Tuesday revealed McCarthy’s selection and the cover for the issue that hits magazine racks on Friday.

McCarthy, 52, recounted for the magazine her upbringing on a farm in rural Illinois and how she went through a punk phase, complete with a mohawk and blue hair, when she was in high school.

“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 told the magazine. “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.”

McCarthy says it wasn’t until her 30s, when she met her husband and producing partner Ben Falcone, that she started feeling comfortable with herself. The couple, who have two teenage daughters together, have been married since 2005.

The actor said she wants others to find similar peace of mind.

“When someone’s being their authentic self and it hurts no one else in the world … The simplest rule is just be kind,” she says.

McCarthy stars as the sea witch Ursula in Disney’s upcoming live-action “The Little Mermaid,” which will be released in May.