Turns out, most of her underwater scenes were actually filmed with her in the air. 'I went through a lot of mermaid training because I spent a lot of time on what you call a blue screen,' she said. 'So I would be in a harness and wires, basically, suspended in the air, and I would have to simulate the swimming motion.
While Halle keeps Ariel's signature red hair for the film, she decided to keep her natural locs for the role but dyed them a copper colour instead. And she looks so good. “It was super important for me to have my natural hair in this film,” Halley told Ebony magazine.
How did Halle Bailey get chosen for Little mermaid?
Halle Bailey was the first to audition for the beloved and coveted role of Ariel in Disney's live-action “The Little Mermaid.” After Bailey belted out the classic showstopper “Part of Your World” from the original 1989 film, director Rob Marshall and the other filmmakers knew that she was the one for the role.
This wasn't the final product that we see in the movie, though, and Bailey didn't actually wear the tail for any of the scenes that took place entirely underwater.
How Halle Bailey Perfected Ariel's Swimming Movements in The Little Mermaid
How did they make Ariel look like she was swimming?
Some of the tuning fork rigs had slip rings in them, so she could actually do 360 degree rolls. But the real key was that the rigs were being manually pushed around on stage. There was a base which would allow forwards and lateral movements on which there was a pivoted, adjustable arm.
Director Rob Marshall reveals what it was like seeing Halle Bailey's initial audition for Ariel. “The first actor we saw for this role was Halle. The first thing she did is she came in and sang for us. She shut her eyes and started to sing the song.
He says they were looking for the best actor for the role of any ethnicity who could not only sing but convey traits such as strength, passion, beauty, joy and intelligence, which they found in Bailey.
Disney's live-action “The Little Mermaid” had “no agenda” when it came to the casting of Ariel, director Rob Marshall told Entertainment Weekly. The “Chicago” and “Into the Woods” director said his team auditioned “every ethnicity” for the role before landing on singer Halle Bailey.
The Little Mermaid's Halle Bailey explains why keeping her locs as Ariel was important. Producers wanted Halle to keep her own hairstyle and incorporate it into Ariel's identity.
Obviously, modifications are required anytime you adapt animation to live-action, but Bailey and the beauty department had to reimagine Ariel as a woman of color too. Bailey and the team opted to keep her hair red—that was essential—but opted for copper locs to make it her own.
To get Bailey picture perfect for the film, Bailey sat for 12 to 14 hours to wrap her locs, which the hairstylist said was the most reasonable time she could get it to.
For the mermaids in the film, strengthening the neck muscles was especially important. "Being on the rigs and being horizontal, they've got to be able to swim like a mermaid, move like a mermaid, and also be able to sing, act, and dance pretty much with a straight face without being in pain," Shirvani said.
“In The Little Mermaid, Halle has locs,” Davis says. “So the first day of testing, I say, 'God, you've got to allow me to figure out the logistics of applying wigs over this,' because the rumor she got was that we were going to cut her hair, and I was like, 'Absolutely not.
Disney's Ariel is not the same as Anderson's little mermaid. The movie is loosely based on the fairy tale, so Disney has the freedom to give Ariel any skin color they want. In the 1989 movie, Ariel was born in the fictional underwater kingdom of Atlantica, which technically makes her Atlantican, not Danish.
Director Rob Marshall had auditioned the crème de la crème of young Hollywood for the role, and even Zendaya was rumored to have read for the part. But it was movie newcomer Bailey who won the coveted lead.
Jodi Benson was the voice of Ariel in Disney's animated 1989 “Little Mermaid” classic. Starting in 2019, when Halle Bailey was cast in the live-action version, Benson has been nothing but supportive of the 23-year-old being “part of her world.”
There are several instances when Eric's mother Queen Salina (Noma Dumezweni), who is Black and adopted him as a child when he washed up from the ocean, chastises him for his obvious love for beings that are considered other.
“I remember the first thumbnail sketches,” Benson tells EW of the first iterations of Ariel. “She had blonde hair. She looked like one of the exaggerated faces from [the] Peter Pan era. She looked a little bit glamorous and a little bit mature to me.”
How much did Halle Bailey get paid for The Little Mermaid?
According to Showbiz Galore, she was reportedly paid $1.5 million to don the tail and seashells, though some news outlets reported slightly more modest earnings of $500,000. Despite the online backlash about casting a Black Ariel, this project made Halle Bailey a household name, especially among young Disney fans.
How old was Halle Bailey when she made Little Mermaid?
Halle celebrated her 21st birthday while filming "The Little Mermaid," and though it was a remarkable experience sharing that moment with her castmates and crew, there was one key person missing: her sister.
Bailey resides in North Hollywood, Los Angeles with her sister. She and her sister are both vegans. Bailey has been in a relationship with DDG, a YouTuber and American rapper, since December 2021 and appears in his videos on occasion. On January 6, 2024, Bailey announced the birth of the couple's firstborn son.
