Halle Bailey Joins Disney Cast As Ariel In The Little Mermaid

Disney casts Halle Bailey as Ariel in The Little Mermaid.

Disney announces the upcoming live-action remake of 'The Little Mermaid' shall see a new mermaid princess. The 19-year-old singer and actress Halle Bailey is confirmed to take on the iconic role.

Rob Marshall, best known for directing 'Mary Poppins Returns' spoke on the decision to cast Halle.

"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."

Previously, Robb spoke about the role of Ariel back in 2018 where he said, "It's about a woman finding her voice — a girl finding her voice, actually — and that immediately just felt like an interesting, timely piece that resonated with us."

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The teenage star's acting credits include 'Let It Shine', 'Last Holiday', and most recently the TV series 'Grown-ish'. In addition, she's made a name for herself as one half of the R&B duo 'Chloe x Halle'. The pair went viral in 2013 after they performed a cover of 'Pretty Hurts' by Beyonce.

Meanwhile, not everybody is pleased by the casting choice. While many expressed their love for the person of color in a leading role, others felt it wouldn't be the same as the red-headed Ariel from the original animated movie of 1989.

One dissatisfied fan wrote on Instagram, "Ariel is iconic because of her red hair. Why cast someone who clearly looks nothing like the original?"

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Another Instagram user, however, sarcastically took the piss at those hating on the casting choice: "Wait you're telling me they didn't cast a real mermaid? All these mermaid roles going to human actors, like she doesn't even have scales."

"Why does her skin colour matter?!" A Halle fan added. "She got the part because she was the best one and had the best damn voice. End of story."