Halle Bailey is set to be Disney’s next big star as Ariel in the live-action adaptation of ” The little mermaid.
Halle Bailey is set to be Disney’s next big star as Ariel in the live-action adaptation of ” The little mermaid.
When director Rob Marshall first heard Bailey sing, he brought her along to a test shoot for Ariel. However, the director of The Little Mermaid revealed that Disney CEO Bob Iger’s reaction to Bailey’s Ariel proved she was right for the role.
How did Bob Iger react to Halle Bailey’s Ariel?
When talking to meeting, Marshall described how Bailey’s performance at the Grammys first put the talented singer-songwriter on his radar. After inviting her to a screen test, Bailey’s rendition of “Part of Your World” brought him to tears. Despite the challenges of casting Ariel, Marshall believed Bailey was the right man, as did Iger, who agreed with the decision.
“The difficult thing about Ariel is that you ask for so many things. They demand innocence and vulnerability, but at the same time strength,” Marshall said. “A strong-willed, almost stubborn character who sees what he wants and gets it. But she had to have joy, and Halle had all of that.”
“She was the first actress we saw for the film, the first. And then we saw everyone else,” Marshall continued. “She set the bar so high and no one has surpassed that bar. We did a screen test with it and it was simple: This is it. I immediately went to Bob Iger to do the screen test and within minutes he said, “Yes, of course.” She’s Ariel.”
Marshall is directing The Little Mermaid from a screenplay by David Magee, based on the 1989 animated film of the same name. Bailey stars as Ariel, along with Jonah Hauer-King as Eric, Awkwafina as Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina, and Melissa McCarthy as Ursula.
The Little Mermaid hits theaters on May 26th.
