The Little Mermaid is now playing in theaters and the latest Disney live-action remake is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with a 68% critics score and a 95% audience score. ComicBook.com‘s Jenna Anderson gave the new movie a 4 out of 5 and called it “Disney’s most radiant and romantic live-action retelling in years.” If there’s one thing folks can agree on, it’s that Halle Bailey gives a dynamite performance as Ariel. Not only does Bailey shine in her first starring role, but she also looks great, and part of that can be attributed to the Oscar-nominated hair department head,Camille Friend, who also worked on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. A lot of work went into giving Bailey Ariel’s signature red hair, in fact, it cost about $150,000.
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During a recent interview with Variety, Friend talked about getting the difficulties of getting the right shade of red for Baiey’s hair, and explained how they did it while maintaining the actor’s natural hair and without having to resort to a wig. “I went to meet with Halle’s family. Her mother is spiritual and they’re a kind family.” She continued, “I started to understand who she was and why the natural hair element was important to keep.”
Friend explained, “I look at the facial shape, skin tone, and eye color. And what color her costume is going to be.” She added, “I knew a wig just wasn’t going to work.” The big challenge was creating Ariel’s hair without cutting Bailey’s locs, and the wrap process ended up taking 12 to 14 hours. “Halle’s locs are down to her waist, over 24 inches. And putting her in a wig was going to look crazy,” Friend shared, adding that Bailey was a “trooper.”
“If we take hair and wrap it around her locs, we don’t have to cut them and we don’t have to color them. We can change her color without changing her internal hair structure. Her structure and her hair are her,” Friend explained of her thought process. The 30-inch long hair was custom-colored and fused in with Keratin tips. “It’s three shades of red,” Friend revealed, sharing that she found the hair at Extensions Plus in Chatsworth. “I’m not guesstimating, but we probably spent at least $150,000 because we had to redo it and take it out. You couldn’t use it and we’d have to start again. It was a process.”
Another challenge for Friend? “Locs don’t float.” Once the hair was chosen, there was also the added element of dealing with the water. As for Ariel’s iconic hair flip, that required some extra help. “Tiffany Williams jumped in there and took the movie the rest of the way…This is what I know, Halle did the hair flip, and it was helped with CGI,” Friend shared.
The Little Mermaid Makeup Artist Responds to Ursula Criticism:
While people loved Bailey’s hair in The Little Mermaid, fans have been critical of Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula makeup. The animated version of Ursula was inspired by the iconic drag queen, Divine, which has led some people to suggest a member of the LGBTQ+ community should have done the character’s makeup. In an interview with Insider, The Little Mermaid makeup artist, Peter King, responded to the backlash. Previously, King won an Academy Award for Best Makeup for Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, so he’s no stranger to the industry.
“I find that very offensive. Why can’t I do as good a job as a queer makeup artist?” King wondered. “That’s ridiculous. That’s trying to claim it and that’s fine, if that’s what they wanna do, but don’t put people down because they’re not what they want it to be.” He added, “I personally don’t get it. Yes, I’m very old now, so that’s fine, I get that too, but, you know, a makeup artist or makeup designer could design makeup, they don’t have to have an attachment to the nature of what they’re doing.”
King also said that he “discussed everything” with McCarthy and they both bonded over “how much we love drag queens and drag makeup and stuff.” Recently, McCarthy spoke about being inspired by drag while playing the Disney villain.
“There’s a drag queen that lives in me,” McCarthy told Entertainment Weekly. “I’m always right on the verge of going full-time with her… To keep the humor and the sadness and the edginess to Ursula is everything I want in a character – and frankly, everything I want in a drag queen.”
The Little Mermaid is now playing in theaters.
