Disney Casts Halle Bailey As Ariel In Live-Action 'The Little Mermaid' And Twitter Is Rejoicing
The forthcoming The Little Mermaid live-action remake has found its Ariel in R&B singer and actress Halle Bailey!
The film's director, Rob Marshall, confirmed the news in a press release, explaining that Bailey —who is half of the music duo Chloe x Halle — was a clear front-runner for the role from the very beginning.
"After an extensive search, it was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role," he said.
The film, which is anticipated to begin production in early 2020, will be produced by Marshall, John DeLuca, Marc Platt and Lin-Manuel Miranda.
In addition to Bailey, Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina have also been confirmed as part of the cast, with Melissa McCarthy currently in talks to play Ursula.
According to Disney, the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid will incorporate original songs from the 1989 animated film as well as new music from original composer Alan Menken and Miranda.
This role marks Bailey's feature film debut. Currently, she stars as Sky Forster in the Freeform series Grown-ish alongside her sister and bandmate, Chloe Bailey. Their duo, Chloe x Halle, was formed in 2015 and was later discovered by Beyoncé, who signed them to her label, Parkwood Entertainment.
The 19-year-old reacted to the exciting news on her and her sister's joint Twitter page, captioning a photo of an Ariel of color "Dreams come true."
See how Twitter reacted to the news, below:
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Are you as stoked as we are to see Halle slay this role?
