Halle Bailey talks Black women in Disney

Halle Bailey is making waves as the first Black actress to play Ariel on screen in the new live-action adaptation of ‘The Little Mermaid’.

The 23-year-old has credited Black women in Disney who came before her as being her inspiration when taking on the role. Namely, Brandy Norwood who played Cinderella in the 1997 remake and Anika Noni Rose who voiced Tiana in 2009′s ‘The Princess and the Frog’.

“I loved Brandy as Cinderella; she was so amazing, such a role model and inspiration and a really big kind of studying point for me as I was taking on Ariel,” Bailey told Entertainment Tonight.

“I just watched how amazing she was in that role and how comfortable she was in her skin and how impactful to audiences and little girls like me who watched it. And Anika Noni Rose, who’s just outstanding.

“I’ve had the chance to meet her and we got to sing [The Princess and the Frog’s] song together, “Almost There” for [2022′s Disney Family Singalong] with my sister [Chloe Bailey]. She was always so kind!”

The response to Bailey’s Ariel

While Norwood and Rose became a huge inspiration to Bailey as a child, Bailey now finds that she’s inspiring young Black girls via social media.

“It’s been such a beautiful moment for me to be able to see the reactions of the babies -- it makes me just emotionally overwhelmed honestly and I cry as soon as I watch them,” Bailey said.

“I think of the little girl that’s still in me, honestly, and it heals that girl inside of me to watch them feel like they have representation and someone to look to, to know that they deserve to be in those places too,” she continued.

“[It’s] so important. It just makes me cry anytime I see any of those videos.”

‘The Little Mermaid’ is now playing in theaters.