Halle Bailey On How She Dealt With The Little Mermaid Casting Hate

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In recent years, Disney has taken some of its most popular animated projects and adapted them into live-action features. The Little Mermaid is just one of those upcoming remakes, and lead star Halle Bailey opened up about the hate she received after being cast as Ariel.

The Little Mermaid remake is based on the 1989 animated Disney film of the same name, which tells the story of a young redhead mermaid named Ariel, who longs to live a life full of love and curiosity, which is the polar opposite of what she’s offered out at sea. So she makes a deal with a sea witch, trading her voice for feet so she can explore the land above. The Little Mermaid is one of Disney's most beloved tales and the news of a live-action adaptation was long awaited by fans. However, when actress and musician Bailey was cast as Ariel, the pushback was extreme.

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With The Little Mermaid set to hit theaters next summer in May 2023, Bailey discussed the upcoming role. In regard to the hate she received, Bailey revealed her family helped her get through the pain of the discrimination she was facing in massive waves. “It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement, telling me, ‘You don’t understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you,’” Bailey said during an interview with Variety.

With the words of her family, Bailey was able to rise above the negativity and come to the realization of the weight this role will hold for the Black community. She went on to talk about how having a Black actor in a role like this when she was younger would have been life-changing. “What that would