You may know the film’s lead from her past acting or musical work.
But she primarily rose to fame for her singing career.
She and her older sister Chloe Bailey form the popular musical duo Chloe x Halle.
Together, they’ve released two albums and been nominated for four Grammy Awards.
Now, Halle has lent her acting and her voice to the role ofAriel in “The Little Mermaid.
Even so, the filmmakers were completely confident in their choice for the starring role.
Bailey herself shared her feelings after learning she’d landed the dream part.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, we’ve been doing this for five minutes.
Have we found Ariel?’
And we had.”
They didn’t stop the search for Ariel then, though.
Bailey came in for several more auditions, and Marshall said they also saw hundreds of other actresses.
But they never encountered anyone who connected to and made the role their own the way Bailey did.
… She’s amazing [as] Ariel."
Bailey’s reaction to getting cast
For Halle Bailey, playing Ariel was a dream come true.
“Rob [Marshall] was like, ‘Hello.
I’m looking for Ariel,'” she said.
After realizing she had the part, Bailey said, “My first reaction was just sobbing.”
She admitted she was crying tears of joy for the rest of the day.
“The Little Mermaid” opens exclusively in theaters on May 26.
