Plus: Prince Eric gets a personality!
The story of Disney’sThe Little Mermaidhas become somewhat divisive since its debut in 1989.
Rob Marshall, 62, who directs the upcoming live-action adaptation, doesn’t see it that way.
Halle Bailey’s Ariel will be a ‘modern woman’ in ‘The Little Mermaid,’ says director Rob Marshall.Disney
1 is her passion that fire is very important," he explains of this new take on Ariel.
“She feels displaced and it’s really an epic story of finding your true self.
But also there needs to be a great deal of joy.
It’s a strange combination of innocence and wisdom, and a great deal of soul and heart.
She’s very modern in that way.”
“There’s a wall, basically, built between the worlds.
That’s the rule that is never broken.”
Marshall wants audiences to rest easy.
In addition to “Part of Your World,” there’s new music written for the actress.
Marshall and the writers took that as another opportunity to flesh out the Eric role.
“There’s a whole story that’s developed in our film.
He has a mother, a queen, that’s new to the film.
He has a very similar trajectory in a way to Ariel.
He doesn’t feel like it’s where he fits in, his world.”
Marshall has seen the impact Bailey’s Ariel is already having online.
Marshall was completely caught off-guard by that response.
It was very moving to me to see how important this kind of casting is for the world."
He stresses there was “no agenda” when casting Ariel forThe Little Mermaid.
“We just were looking for the best actor for the role, period.
The end,” he remarks.
“We saw everybody and every ethnicity.”
And, of course, she had to be able to sing.
“Halle still had that freshness in herself.
