“The Little Mermaid” director addresses racist backlash

“The Little Mermaid” director: There was “no agenda” when casting Halle Bailey as Ariel.

Transcript

00:00The Little Mermaid director Rob Marshall addressed the racist backlash Halle Bailey

00:04has faced since being cast as Ariel. He said there was no agenda during the casting and

00:08that they auditioned every ethnicity for the role before deciding on singer Halle Bailey.

00:13The goal, he explained, was to find someone quote, incredibly strong, passionate, beautiful,

00:18smart, clever, and with a great deal of fire and joy. Marshall said Bailey had all of those

00:23qualities plus the voice needed for the role of Ariel. Quote, that voice is something that is

00:28so signature and so ethereal and so beautiful that it captures the heart of Eric and he looks

00:32for her for the entire film. When Disney announced the casting for their live action remake many

00:37praised Bailey for landing the lead role given her vocal abilities and for the representation

00:41it would bring. Quote, I wasn't anticipating that because in a way I felt like we've moved

00:45so far past that kind of thing but then you realize in a way we haven't. It was very moving

00:50for me to see how important this kind of casting is for the world, Marshall said.