The Little Mermaid star Melissa McCarthy shares a behind-the-scenes story that proves Halle Bailey is basically Ariel in real life. Directed by Rob Marshall, The Little Mermaid is Disney's live-action remake of its animated 1989 classic of the same name (which is itself based on an 1837 fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen). While the film has been met with a somewhat lukewarm response from critics, Bailey's Ariel is a notable highlight.
In a recent interview on The Little Mermaid's Ursula, recalls that Bailey would be constantly humming to herself on set. The actor shares that the quiet humming was so beautiful that it even enraptured the film's sound crew. Check out McCarthy's full comment or watch the TikTok video below:
"Halle is at all times incredibly quietly humming. There is always this beautiful, it’s a different melody, it’s so quiet, but we were mic’d because sometimes we were so far away from each other that if we whispered to each other we could fully hear it in our earpiece. So she would just be sitting, a lot of times in the eyeline, because a lot of time I was up and she’d be sitting in this little tiny ball just on the ground and just so quietly but always humming.
“There’s always music generating, it is the most beautiful thing in the world. And sometimes the sound guy, I would watch and just see him and he would have the boom there and he’s like [makes an adorable face]. And then he saw [me] and I went ‘Can you hear it?’ And he goes ‘I can always hear it, it’s my favorite thing.’
"Sometimes I don’t even think you knew you were doing it, it just comes from you…it truly was divine.”
Halle Bailey Is The Perfect Ariel
Although reviews for The Little Mermaid haven't been universally positive, there does seem to be a fairly strong consensus that Bailey has nailed it as Ariel. In the animated original, Ariel is naturally inquisitive, longing for a life beyond the sea, a feeling that is made even stronger when she meets Prince Eric. In addition to radiating a certain natural charisma, Bailey captures these qualities perfectly, making the live-action Disney princess someone worth rooting for.
Speaking to her character's desire for exploration, love, and adventure, Bailey's rendition of "Part of Your World," one of the most iconic songs from the animated The Little Mermaid, is another highlight of the remake. Not only does the song allow Bailey's singing voice to shine, but the actor adds a strong degree of emotion to the iconic number. Bailey's sensibilities as a singer also give the remake's many other songs a unique flavor, honoring the way they sounded in the original while also sounding fresh.
Also crucial to The Little Mermaid is Ariel's chemistry with Eric. Bailey and Eric actor Jonah Hauer-King have a great on-screen dynamic, and it's clear from other behind-the-scenes materials that the two also got along swimmingly on set. Not all of Disney's live-action The Little Mermaid works, but Bailey is definitively a bright spot in the film, totally proving wrong the initial backlash against her casting.
Source: Triple J Radio/ TikTok
