• Marshall said that the casting team’s goal was to find someone who could play the famous Disney
• In another part of the interview, Marshall said that he “didn’t expect” the positive response to the upcoming movie
• Rob Marshall, who directed The Little Mermaid, says that when they chose Halle Bailey to play Ariel, they were looking for someone

Rob Marshall, who directed The Little Mermaid, says that when they chose Halle Bailey to play Ariel, they were looking for someone who could show “a lot of fire and joy.”

“We just wanted to find the best actor for the part, end of story. Marshall, 62, told Entertainment Weekly that he had cast Bailey, 22, and that was “the end.” He stressed that the team had “no agenda.” “in the course of it. “Everyone from every race was there.”

Marshall said that the casting team’s goal was to find someone who could play the famous Disney princess and be “very strong, passionate, beautiful, smart, clever, and full of fire and joy.”

“That voice is so unique, so ethereal, and so beautiful that it captures Eric’s heart, and he looks for her the whole movie,” the director said about how important it was to find a good singer to play the lead role.

In another part of the interview, Marshall said that he “didn’t expect” the positive response to the upcoming movie after people saw a Black actor play Ariel in a teaser trailer released by Disney in September.

“I wasn’t expecting that because, in a way, I thought we were so far past that kind of thing,” the director told EW about the notable on-screen representation. “But then you figure out something that we haven’t. Seeing how important this kind of casting is for the world moved me a lot.”

Bailey told at the D23 Expo in September how her role as Ariel had changed her. “I think I was a lot more young-minded and not so sure of myself when I started working on this movie,” she said. “In more ways than one, the whole filming process was like Ariel’s journey to find herself and her voice.”

At the event, Bailey said, “I just started crying because I really felt like I had come out of this cocoon with Ariel when we finished filming this movie.”

“This story has meant a lot to me, and the process of making the movie has really changed my life,” she said. “It was very much like what Ariel goes through in the movie,” I said.
The actress also said that the movie had “changed my view on everything” and “had a lot of effects on my life.” And she hopes that the way she tells the story now will be just as important to young audiences.

“Now that it’s going to be played by someone who looks like me, a woman of colour, I’m just like, wow, I’m so grateful for what it will do for all the other little Black and brown boys and girls who will see themselves in me,” said Bailey. “Because I know that if I had seen myself when I was younger, my whole outlook would have been different.”

On May 26, The Little Mermaid will be in theatres.

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