Halle Bailey’s littlest ‘Little Mermaid’ fans would like to know why she has legs 🤨
Halle Bailey’s littlest “Little Mermaid” fans are ready to ask her some questions and get some answers.
In a recent interview with Twitter Movies, the singer and actor revealed that the “babies” she meets are often baffled by her — what do you call them? oh, feet — when they see her in person. Bailey plays the rebellious Princess Ariel in Disney’s live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid,” which hits theaters Friday.
“They come up to me, and they’re like, ‘You have legs!’” Bailey says in the clip.
“They’re confused because ... they see me in the teasers and trailers as a mermaid.... They think that when I go back in the water, I turn into a mermaid — which is the sweetest thing, and I wish it was real.”
Bailey opens up about facing racist trolls, protective fans, grueling stunts and more to take on the role a million little girls dreamed of.
But one of Bailey’s youngest admirers — whose adorable reaction to the first “Little Mermaid” teaser went viral on social media last year — was on to Disney’s tricks. The little girl from that viral video, Sienna, and a handful of her peers were recently surprised by Bailey on the “Tamron Hall Show,” where they peppered the “Little Mermaid” star with their most burning queries.
“Halle Bailey, do you have a fake tail?” Sienna asked, interrupting Hall.
“I do,” Bailey replied. “I have a fake tail at home that I love, and I put it on when I want to feel like I’m Ariel again.”
Co-stars Jonah Hauer-King, Jacob Tremblay, Melissa McCarthy and Noma Dumezweni vividly recall the actor’s singing during rehearsals for the film.
Once Sienna got the ball rolling, the questions kept coming: “Were you really underwater?” “How do you breathe underwater?” “How did you get away from the shark?”
As Bailey patiently responded to each of their inquiries — explaining how the movie was shot using a wave machine and how she had to “swim really, really fast” during the shark-attack scene — her young fans stared at her in awe.
In an interview for The Times’ summer movie preview, Bailey had a message for Sienna and all the “Black and brown babies out there” who look up to her as Ariel.
“I hope they feel filled with love and confidence in who they are,” she said, “because it’s essential that they see themselves in roles like these.”
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