Disney’s live-action Little Mermaid has found its Ariel, but social media fans were very confused by the movie’s casting news. On Wednesday, Variety reported that Halle Bailey has been tapped to play Ariel, the young mermaid princess, in Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid .
The 19-year-old Chloe x Halle singer was “the clear front runner” for the role from the beginning of the casting search, with director Rob Marshall touting her talents in a statement about the project, as previously shared by The Inquisitr .
But some Disney fans had to do a double-take as The Little Mermaid movie news spread across social media. Twitter was flooded with commentary from people who mistakenly thought 52-year-old Halle Berry would be playing teen Ariel in the live-action Little Mermaid remake, and Berry’s name quickly appeared on the social media site’s Trending sidebar.
“Isn’t Halle Berry too old to be little mermaid?” one confused Twitter user wrote.
While others noted that Berry, a respected actress and Oscar winner, would make a great Ariel in a different adaption of the story, the original Little Mermaid is about a teen mermaid who dreams of being part of the human world. Some of Halle Berry’s most loyal fans came to her defense, saying she has what it takes to play the beloved teen mermaid.
“She’s a great actress so I’m sure she can pull off being an angsty teenager despite being 50,” one fan tweeted .
You can see some of the hilarious reaction to Halle Bailey’s The Little Mermaid casting announcement below.
I can’t be the only person who saw news that “Halle Bailey is The Little Mermaid” and got very confused because my mind misspelled her last name to make it read “Halle Berry is The Little Mermaid,” right?
— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) July 3, 2019
Just spent way too long trying to figure out how Halle Berry was gonna play Ariel in the Little Mermaid remake…
— Jaded Mirandarin (@TedDancin) July 3, 2019
can’t believe Halle Berry is gonna be the little mermaid so excited for her to dispel the stereotype that catwomen can’t swim
— ariana (@arianazhang) July 3, 2019
Halle Berry is boutta be real confused at all the “Congrats on The Little Mermaid!” messages heading her way.
— Alisha Grauso (@AlishaGrauso) July 3, 2019
Of course, even if Disney did come calling, there’s no guarantee Halle Berry would even want to do a kids’ film. The star’s resume is filled with action and drama films including X-Men: Days of Future Past, Kidnap, and most recently , John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum.
In a 2013 interview with Chicago Now , Berry was asked if she would ever consider doing “the Disney or cartoon thing” so her kids could see her films.
“I was just on Sesame Street . Strictly for my daughter, I was with Elmo,” the actress said.
As for the actual Ariel, it should be noted that Halle Bailey was not named after Halle Berry. In an interview with The Houston Chronicle , Bailey revealed that her parents wanted to name her “Hailey,” but “Hailey Bailey sounded weird.”
Meanwhile, Halle Berry was named after the famed Halle’s department store, which is a Cleveland landmark, according to Jetset mag.
There is no word yet on the expected release date for The Little Mermaid live-action remake, but this casting news definitely gave it some juice.
