Earlier today, it was officially announced that Halle Bailey will be playing Ariel in the live-action remake of, the 1989 animated classic,
The Little Mermaid. Prior to this announcement, it had also been revealed that Jacob Tremblay (
Room) and Awkwafina (
Crazy Rich Asians) would play Flounder and Scuttle respetively. Additionally, Melissa McCarthy (
Ghostbusters) is said to be in talks to play Ursula.
Last year, it was reported that Lady Gaga (
A Star Is Born) was in talks to play the villainous role. Those talks evidently didn't happen or fell through. Similarly, there were multiple reports and rumours that Zendaya (
Spider-Man: Far From Home) was Disney's top choice for the titular role of Ariel. The actress revealed that
she'd had no talks with Disney, but also that
she was open to the role.
Again, Zendaya being cast as Ariel evidently didn't come to fruition. Whether talks at least occured, though, we have no idea. Regardless, the actress recently took to social media to congratulate the actress that Disney actually ended up choosing for the role.
Lin-Manuel Miranda (Mary Poppins Returns) did the same. Miranda will be writing original songs for the
Little Mermaid remake alongside Alan Menken (the songwriter behind the iconic songs of the original). After many people confused the two, due to their extremely similar names, Halle Berry (
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum) also gave Bailey her blessing.