The Little Mermaid: Halle Bailey Addresses Online Backlash to Her Playing Ariel

The Little Mermaid's Halle Bailey addressed the online backlash to her playing Ariel. She sat down with Teen Vogue to talk about her life and using her platform for positivity. Eventually, the highly-anticipated live-action version of the Disney classic came up. Bailey is still very thankful for being cast, and she's balancing the good with the bad when it comes to the Internet response. Things have cooled down considerably, but the issue will probably reappear when the trailer releases. Until then, its just time to keep positive and be open to the experience for the young actress. She's heard some of it and won't be letting it get her down. There is so much support out there and it helps push out the hate.

Bailey told Teen Vogue, "We've always learned to just keep our heads up no matter the situation. No matter what anybody has to say about you...just keep pushing."

When the news of the casting came out, Variety had a sit down with the actress and she reiterated her excitement to be associated with this project. "I feel like I'm dreaming, and I'm just grateful." Bailey said. "And I don't pay attention to the negativity. I just feel like this role is something bigger than me, and greater, and it's going to be beautiful. I'm just so excited to be a part of it."

So, she feels confident in this choice, and the voice of Ariel from the animated feature stepped up to support Bailey as well after all the drama kicked up.

"I think that the spirit of a character is what really matters." Benson told the crowd at a convention appearance. "What you bring to the table in a character as far as their heart, and their spirit, is what really counts. And the outside package — cause let's face it, I'm really, really old — and so when I'm singing 'Part of Your World,' if you were to judge me on the way that I look on the outside, it might change the way that you interpret the song. But if you close your eyes, you can still hear the spirit of Ariel."

"We need to be storytellers." Benson added. "And no matter what we look like on the outside, no matter our race, our nation, the color of our skin, our dialect, whether I'm tall or thin, whether I'm overweight or underweight, or my hair is whatever color, we really need to tell the story. And that's what we want to do, we want to make a connection to the audience. So I know for Disney that they have the heart of storytelling, that's really what they're trying to do. They want to communicate with all of us in the audience so that we can fall in love with the film again.

Are you looking forward to the live-action version of the film? Let us know down in the comments!