Did You Know Halle Bailey Was The First Actor Seen For Ariel In The Little Mermaid Auditions?
She’s ready to be part of your world!
Disney’s highly anticipated The Little Mermaid live-action remake finds Halle Bailey in the iconic role King Triton’s youngest daughter Ariel. Fascincated by the human world, but forbidden to explore it, she saves a prince and becomes determined to be with him in the world above water… even if that means making a deal with a conniving sea witch. Bailey stars alongside Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Awkwafina, Jacob Tremblay, Javier Bardem, and Melissa McCarthy. Pop Culture Planet attended the film’s virtual press conference to learn about casting Ariel, new music, favorite moments, and more.
Director Rob Marshall reveals what it was like seeing Halle Bailey’s initial audition for Ariel. “The first actor we saw for this role was Halle. The first thing she did is she came in and sang for us. She shut her eyes and started to sing the song. And I thought, I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I just thought she's so deeply connected to what she's singing about. It's so emotional. It's so beautiful,” he shared at The Little Mermaid press conference. “And I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, we've been doing this for five minutes. Have we found Ariel?’ And we had.”
The team wanted to find more places to give Ariel a way to express herself in this live-action version despite having sold her voice to Ursula. “In the animated film, Ariel had one song. A series of reprises, but one song. And so, you know, the fact, I mean, the great thing about working with Alan [Menken] is that, he's so open to looking at this. […] We said, ‘Can we find another place for Ariel?’” said Marshall. “Well, the challenging thing was that of course she had lost her voice. But we realize, obviously, in film, you can create something where you're hearing the internal thoughts through music, through song. And that was sort of the key for us to find this piece for her. […] It's a montage of all her time on land, until she meets the prince for the first time, so it helped us in so many ways. It was wonderful to have that collaboration.”
Bailey, an accomplished singer and actress, learned a lot about herself while playing the iconic role of Ariel. “I tell people all the time I feel like Ariel truly has helped me find myself […] because it's been five years of my life now. From 18 to now being 23, so those are very intense, transformative years as you're developing as a young woman. But I feel like especially these themes of the film and what she had to go through with her passions and drive and speaking up for herself, and even though it may be scary, she went for it,” she said. “I feel like those things I really try to adopt and give to Halle now. She's taught me so much, for sure.”
While everyone loves a Disney love story, this film also explores the friendship that builds from. “What was fun about this, and I think a lot of it came from our off screen selves as well, was looking at Ariel and Eric as two people who were kindred spirits who felt a little bit restless, who felt like they were behind the four walls of their respective castles, and were very much looking outwards and not in. What was nice about that was that it meant that their relationship feels really earned. They both felt like they were teaching each other things. They were excited and fascinated by each other's worlds although they didn't actually know it until the end,” said Jonah Hauer-King, who plays Prince Eric. “It's a really good message for what it means to be in love and what it means to be in a relationship is ultimately tied to friendship. That's the fundamental thing of it. And that's why it lasts, and that's what makes it special.”
Melissa McCarthy, who plays Ursula, gave kudos to her young co-stars. “Instead of it being these caricatures, you've given them humanity. And you've tethered like that these are real people and that everyone like walks with the same problems and the same troubles and worries,” she said. “And I think that's the big difference is you guys brought your humanity to the screen.”
“The whole story, the whole film feels very grounded in reality. So, the Disney prince and the Disney princess aspect is amazing and it's fun and exciting, but I think watching it [at the premiere] made me realize that for all of us, even though we're living in this fantasy space, it just feels really connected to the world and to the real world,” said Hauer-King, while Awkwafina remarked on the film’s dedication to diversity: “I think it reflects the world we live in. And I think that everyone deserves to see themselves on screen.”
One of Bailey’s favorite scenes to film was the moment when Ariel saves Prince Eric. “We were both trying to survive this moment in the tank at Pinewood. It’s so intense. When they turn on the thunder and lightning and fires around us and the waves, it feels like you’re in the middle of the ocean, actually in the middle of a thunderstorm. I was trying to look like, ‘I’m a mermaid, I do this all the time,’” laughed Bailey. “Jonah’s so much taller than me, but I had to hold him up. We kept laughing about these boots that he had to wear because he kept sinking under because of the boots. So we raise our hands and ask Rob [Marshall], we’re like, ‘You know, you don’t see the boots, right? So can he just take them off?’ Because he kept stepping on my toes.”
“And they were like ‘No, keep the boots. It’s fine.’ So we were just dying in the water the whole time. Like we have to look natural. […] That was the funniest moment,” said Bailey, with Hauer-King adding: “It was quite bonding as well ‘cause it was so early on.”
The Little Mermaid hits theaters on May 26.
