Halle Berry has responded to an angry tweet from someone confusing her with the star playing Ariel in The Little Mermaid, the forthcoming live-action adaptation of Disney’s 1989 animated flick based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fairytale of the same name.
The new film, which is due out next year, stars 22-year-old Halle Bailey as the titular mermaid, alongside the likes of Jonah Hauer-King, Art Malik, Noma Dumezweni, Javier Bardem and Melissa McCarty – and Daveed Diggs, Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina in voice roles.
You’ll notice, however, that there’s no Halle Berry in the cast, as some mistakenly believed when Bailey was announced.
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In a now-deleted tweet, one person had written: “Why is Halle Berry playing Ariel? Halle is 56 years old and isn’t the Little Mermaid a young girl in the story?”
Someone else said: “Isn’t Halle Berry a little too old to be The Little Mermaid?”
It was only a matter of time before all this misplaced hate made its way to Berry, who shared a meme in response.
Another person had made the same error, but was at least a lot more positive with their blunder.
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“Can’t wait to see you under da sea!” they tweeted.
Berry politely replied: “Wrong Halle lol. I can’t wait to see her too though!”
Sadly there had been some controversy over Bailey's casting, though Disney network Freeform hit out at the backlash to her getting the role.
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They addressed the 'poor, unfortunate souls' who couldn't handle Ariel being Black, pointing out that there was nothing wrong with Bailey getting the role and suggesting the real problem was people getting mad at a movie because it doesn't look like a cartoon.
The Little Mermaid is just the latest in a long line of live-action remakes that's tacked pretty close to the plots of the original animated movies but refreshed the visuals.
It'll join the ranks of other Disney movies from recent years including Cinderella, The Jungle Book, Beauty and the Beast, Dumbo, Aladdin, The Lion King, Lady and the Tramp, Mulan and Pinocchio.
On top of that, following The Little Mermaid onto the big screen are a whole host of other remakes at various stages in development including Peter Pan, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Hercules.
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The Little Mermaid is set to release in cinemas on 26 May 2023.
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Topics: Film and TV, Halle Berry
Jess Hardiman