Halle Bailey stars as Ariel in the live-action "The Little Mermaid," which hit cinemas on 26 May. The cast also includes Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Awkwafina as Scuttle, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Javier Bardem as King Triton, and Daveed Diggs as Sebastian.
In an interview with POPSUGAR, Bailey noted how significant it is to be a young Black woman playing Ariel, who has historically been portrayed as white. "It's about time that a role like this is played by a Black woman, by somebody who is just a part of this beautiful community," she said. "We deserve to have images that look like us and to see ourselves in the media on big screens and everything. So I'm just grateful that we're getting to see ourselves finally on such big projects."