*When Halle Bailey flips her hair emerging from the water in “The Little Mermaid”—a must-see movie—it’s reminiscent of the scene in Disney’s 1989 animated film. In that animated movie, Ariel (Jodi Benson) flips her red mane as she comes out of the water, and Ariel (Halle Bailey) flips her locs in the reimaging of the studio’s animated musical classic. Not to mention, in the live-action script, Ariel is Black.
Casting a young woman of color in such an iconic role was a no-brainer for the bold and bodacious director Rob Marshall. “Our goal was to find someone who was incredibly passionate, smart, vulnerable, and clever, with a great deal of fire and joy,” he says. “When I first saw Halle, she was so young and sort of otherworldly, and the voice was simply angelic. Plus, she had such a deep connection to what she was singing about.”
“As a director,” Marshal continued, “your hope is that an actor comes in and claims the role and says, ‘this is mine,’ and that’s exactly what happened with Halle.”
Bailey was also set on keeping her real hair. “My locs are so important to me, and they have been for a very long time,” she explained. “I’ve had my locks since I was that five-year-old little girl.
“As a Black woman, our hair is so important to us. It’s spiritual, it’s everything. And it meant everything to me when I was able to keep my locs as part of the image of Ariel,” Bailey offered. “So, I was grateful to Rob Marshall for saying, you know, we’re re-imagining this character. She should be allowed to have her hair and wear her hair the way that it is in all of its glory.”
“The Little Mermaid” is the story of Ariel, a beautiful and spirited young mermaid with a thirst for adventure. The youngest of King Triton’s (Javier Bardem) daughters and the most defiant, Ariel longs to find out more about the world beyond the sea and, while visiting the surface, falls for a dashing Prince (Jonah Hauer-King). While mermaids are forbidden to interact with humans, Ariel must follow her heart.
The casting is spot on, with fine performances the whole family will enjoy. “The Little Mermaid” is now in theaters.
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