Halle Bailey Of ‘Grownish’ Is Cast As Ariel In Disney’s Live-Action ‘Little Mermaid’

Photo Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

The main character for the new Disney reboot has finally been announced.

With live-action reboot’s of Disney’s most popular films galore; ie: Aladdin, The Jungle Book and the upcoming Lion King, it was only a matter of time before they remade timeless classic, The Little Mermaid. Today is a historic moment though because the actress playing Ariel has been revealed and she’s a black woman! That’s right, none other than the beautiful and talented Halle Bailey will be playing the famed mermaid. Bailey is known for her role on Freeform’s Grownish as well as being 1/2 of the musical sister duo ChloexHalle.

The cast of the forthcoming film has long been speculated. There has been talk of Melissa McCarthy, Awkwafina, and Jacob Tremblay. The film will be directed by Rob Marshall who confirmed the addition of Bailey to the cast. Upon the announcement the singer/actress took to social media to express her excitement.

dream come true… ‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/sndjYUS6wO

— chloe x halle (@chloexhalle) July 3, 2019

Marshall has apparently auditioning potential for some time now. Sources say though that Bailey was always their frontrunner *screams internally*. Marshall released a statment about the new of the casting saying, “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.” Between THIS and her mentor Beyonce playing Nala in Lion King, it looks like black women are taking OVER hunty. A hot girl summer indeed.