Disney Finally Cast a Black Actress as a Live-Action Princess With Halle Bailey as The Little Mermaid’s Ariel!

The Little Mermaid live action project, first announced in 2016, is seeing some serious forward motion. Melissa McCarthy is in talks for the role of Ursula, Awkwafina has joined the cast as Scuttle, and Jacob Tremblay will be playing Flounder. Alan Menken has returned for the music, joined by Lin-Manuel Miranda. But we were missing the titular mermaid until today.

Singer-actress Halle Bailey, part of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle, has been cast as Ariel, one of Disney’s most beloved and famous princesses. Bailey’s casting was announced a short while ago by The Hollywood Reporter, with Disney confirming the casting via email shortly afterward.

“After an extensive search, it was abundantly clear that Halle possesses a rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role,” said director Rob Marshall in a press release.

This casting news is incredibly exciting. It marks the first time one of Disney’s princesses in the live-action films has been portrayed by a Black actress, and indeed the second time a Disney princess overall has been played by a Black actress. The importance of diversifying the Disney princess lineup cannot be overstated; these are modern fairy tales that kids consume voraciously growing up. Just having one Black princess prior to this casting doesn’t make up for the fact that a majority of the other princesses are white, and that those white princesses get the majority of the marketing focus.

She also has an amazing voice. Check out her covering “Unforgettable” below.

This casting news makes me actually excited for one of these live action reimaginings. Disney promises more announcements about the film in the coming weeks, so get ready for more news about the film leading up to D23 next month.

(via The Hollywood Reporter, image: Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

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