Disney's live-action 'The Little Mermaid' director Rob Marshall recently opened up about his upcoming project and also shared some insights on Ariel's casting.
Film-maker Rob Marshall told Entertainment Weekly as quoted in a report by Variety, that Disney's live-action had 'no agenda' when it came to the casting of Ariel. The "Chicago" and "Into the Woods" director said his team auditioned "every ethnicity" for the role before landing on singer Halle Bailey.
"We just were looking for the best actor for the role, period. The end," Marshall said in a report by Entertainment Weekly. "We saw everybody and every ethnicity. [The goal was to find someone who can be] incredibly strong, passionate, beautiful, smart, clever [and with] a great deal of fire and joy."
Bailey exhibited each of these traits as well as the voice that is necessary for the character of Ariel. As Marshall explained, "That voice is something that is so signature and so ethereal and so beautiful that it captures the heart of Eric and he looks for her for the entire film."
According to Variety, a US-based new outlet, although fans were only able to hear a little bit of Bailey singing "Part of Your World" in the movie's teaser trailer, they were nevertheless enthusiastic about the live-action version. Marshall remarked that he never anticipated such a strong interest in Bailey's casting.
"I wasn't anticipating that because, in a way, I felt like we've moved so far past that kind of thing," Marshall said. "But then you realize, in a way we haven't. It was very moving to me to see how important this kind of casting is for the world."
After Bailey's casting was first revealed, the hashtag #NotMyAriel quickly gained traction on Twitter, fueled by hostile online commenters. According to the performer, her family assisted her in coping with the criticism. The bigotry and persecution that Bailey's grandparents had experienced in their lives were described by them to her.
"It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement, telling me, 'You don't understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you,'" Bailey said in a report by Variety.
Bailey also overcame the backlash by thinking about how such a casting would've impacted her as a young girl. "What that would have done for me, how that would have changed my confidence, my belief in myself, everything," she said. "Things that seem so small to everyone else, it's so big to us."
Disney has scheduled May 26, 2023, as the release date for 'The Little Mermaid' in theatres.
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