Disney is bringing the underwater world of The Little Mermaid to live-action with the upcoming film, which will star Halle Bailey as Ariel. Jonah Hauer-King co-stars as Prince Eric, and, as he tells Total Film magazine in the latest issue, which features Fast X on the cover, the adaptation will build on what we already know and love about the original movie.
"The objective was trying to honour and respect the film that we loved 30 years ago, and bring everything that we fell in love with in the first place, while also trying to breathe some new life into it," he explains. "I think that was true of Prince Eric. Trying to understand who he is, and trying to bring some four-dimensionality to him, was the challenge."
The actor also opened up on the audition process. "It starts as an email. It starts as a self-tape request. Most of the time you gladly do them, and send them off into the abyss," he says. "But another email came in, saying they want another tape... And then another... Eventually, it culminated in meeting Rob [Marshall, director]. And at that point, it starts to feel a bit more real."
Along with Hauer-King and Bailey, the film will star Melissa McCarthy as Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, and Awkwafina as Scuttle.
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The Little Mermaid releases this May 26, and you can check out all the other upcoming Disney movies through the link.
For more, grab a copy of the new issue of Total Film magazine, which is on sale now. Check out the covers below:
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