When it was announced that Halle Bailey would be playing Ariel in the live-action Little Mermaid remake, the news was a cause of celebration among many.

As the first Black Disney princess seen in live-action on the big screen, many Black women were excited about seeing themselves represented on screen and for Bailey to take on such an iconic role.

But amid the celebratory tweets and Instagram posts was an undercurrent of criticism from those who opposed casting a Black woman as a white fictional character, with #NotMyAriel trending on Twitter and numerous racist comments levelled at the actor – something that Bailey has recently talked about.

In an interview with Variety, the actor and singer discussed the importance of this role and how her grandparents’ own experiences with racism and discrimination helped her deal with the backlash.

“It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement, telling me, ‘You don’t understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you,’” Bailey said.

Bailey added that the role has reminded her of how important it is for little girls to be represented on screen.

 “I want the little girl in me and the little girls just like me who are watching to know that they’re special and that they should be a princess in every single way,” Bailey said. “There’s no reason that they shouldn’t be. That reassurance was something that I needed.”

Bailey said it also served as a reminder of how impactful it would have been to see the Ariel cartoon as a person of colour when she was younger. “What that would have done for me, how that would have changed my confidence, my belief in myself, everything,” Bailey said. “Things that seem so small to everyone else, it’s so big to us.”

Bailey was announced as the star of the Little Mermaid remake in 2019 and the film is slated to be released 26 May 2023.

Image: Getty