Halle Bailey Details What She Learned From ‘Little Mermaid’ Racist Backlash, Got Support From Zendaya & Ariana Grande

When singer/actress Halle Bailey was cast as Disney‘s live-action Princess Ariel in “The Little Mermaid,” there was a very loud online faction that was furious at her being selected to play the beloved fictional cartoon character based on the iconic Hans Christian Andersen fairytale. As you might suspect, a lot of those folks were mainly upset that a black actress was inhabiting a role they believed was meant for a white actress. Years after that film, Bailey is now talking about that experience, receiving racist backlash alongside who reached out to give her support in those trying times.

The actress, while talking with The Independent (via Variety), to help promote her new rom-com “You, Me & Tuscany,” said that the whole experience around the release of the Rob Marshall film, “taught me to block out the noise.”

READ MORE: 17 Must-See April Films: ‘The Drama,’ ‘The Christophers,’ ‘Mother Mary,’ ‘Normal’ & More

Calling making the Disney movie, “a beautiful experience for me,” and adding that “I feel like it taught me to listen to myself and the good voices inside. I learned how to block out the noise…It was actually freeing to be in the middle of this conversation where so many different opinions were coming in, and they were so opposite from one another… I felt like I was watching myself inside a cup, seeing how people react to it…Growing up in the industry can really develop your sense of self, and for me, it keeps me grounded in a way. I know for some people it’s the opposite, but I just always think to myself, ‘None of this is real.'”

She also revealed that Zendaya and Ariana Grande were in her corner, giving her support during that time (they also experienced vile reactions for taking on roles of fictional characters). Also, Bailey identifies with what happened to Rachel Zegler on “Snow White,” who also saw a similar bigoted narrative crafted based on her ethnicity rather than her acting abilities, long before anyone ended up seeing the film to actually gauge a performance.

“As women, I think we form a little protective bubble around each other, especially when we see a peer going through lots of opinions. Rachel [Zegler] was definitely one of those people. I love her. We all understand what a vulnerable place it is to be, and at the end of the day, we are young women… we’re self-conscious, we’re insecure. I’m insecure at times, and sometimes the opinions of people can muddy your own thoughts. So it’s special to have a community who’s there to say, ‘You’re amazing. We’re here for you.'”

Why folks online see young women (many of them non-white) as easy targets is beyond us; these ladies are simply doing a job they were hired to do, and those imprinting their weirdo personalities on specific IP is very much the kind of thing you wouldn’t expect from grown-ass adults (given these are properties for literal children). Then again, the “culture war” sect isn’t interested in logic or maturity, but really holding tight to those bad-faith emotional reactions to castings for engagement or simply gleefully exposing their own bigotry without an ounce of self-awareness of the harm that can cause to others.

Support independent movie journalism to keep it alive. Sign up for The Playlist Newsletter. All the content you want and, oh, right, it’s free.

Bailey co-stars with Regé-Jean Page in her new film, at Universal Pictures, directed by Kat Coiro (“Mulan”), as “You, Me & Tuscany” heads to theaters this Friday.