The Little Mermaid Star Halle Bailey Speaks Out on Making Her Own Ariel in the Remake

The Little Mermaid’s Halle Bailey talked to Comicbook.com about making Ariel her own in the new movie. During her conversation with Brandon Davis, she talked about adding personal touches to the Disney Princess in order to make the role feel a little closer to her. A lot has been made of the decision to cast the music superstar in the remake. When that trailer dropped, fans got a first-listen to her impressive singing voice and signature look as the mermaid. While a lot of her full performance is hidden in that trailer. Bailey’s long red hair is unmistakable in the clip. Of course, there’s a bit of discussion about the changes from the classic Disney movies. However, the star isn’t too concerned about all that chatter. All that Bailey wants to do is deliver the best performance possible.

Bailey began, “Well, this movie means so much to me, since I was a little girl. I think, approaching this role, I said to myself, “I can only try my hardest and make myself proud. If I make the little girl inside me happy, then I know I did a good job and I know I’m doing my best.” I just gave it my all, and I hope people can take something away from it.”

Rob Marshall is directing The Little Mermaid, with David Magee and Jane Goldman on the script. Fans can expect to hear some original songs alongside the classics from the 1989 animated blockbuster. The new tracks are being composed by Alan Menken and Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“There are things I’ve learned about how you have to work to integrate songs into story, and how it has to feel earned. It can’t just be sort of put there, placed there, because you feel there should be a song,” Marshall told ComicBook.com during a previous interview. “It has to be a song that’s earned, that takes you there. And so as we’re working on, in a way, fleshing out The Little Mermaid — Ariel has one song in the animated film — and so we’re looking for maybe more material.”

“Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda are coming on board to write some lyrics, so that’s exciting, to sort of take what was there, which is so beloved, but also find a way to create a live-action version of it,” Marshall continued before mentioning, “the lessons of creating an original musical have been very helpful so far.”

How excited are you for The Little Mermaid? Let us know down in the comments!