When Ariel Met Ariel: Halle Bailey Got Jodi Benson’s ‘Stamp of Approval’ on ‘Little Mermaid’ Set and Was Told to ‘Just Go for It’

practicing to be a mermaid since she was a kid) or belting the ballad “Part of Your World.” Instead, she lists her castmates’ musical numbers: “Jonah [Hauer-King, who plays Prince Eric, his] song is wonderful — ‘Wild Uncharted Waters’ — his performance of that is iconic. And then ‘The Scuttlebutt’ is amazing.

Stephanie Mills is opening up about her experience playing Dorothy in the Broadway musical The Wiz and all the “hate mail” she received for playing a character that a white woman played before. Mills compares the negativity that Halle Bailey is now experiencing as the star of the live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid.

A whole new generation of little girls are falling in love with “The Little Mermaid” and that’s thanks to Halle Bailey.

In a blink and you’ll maybe miss it moment, the original Ariel, Jodi Benson, pops up in the new live action version of The Little Mermaid.

Halle Bailey is displaying some PDA! As  hits theaters, the film's 23-year-old star took to TikTok to share a video of her jumping into her boyfriend, rapper DDG's, arms and giving him a kiss.Bailey set the video, which she posted in celebration of the end of her press tour, to a remixed clip of Beyoncé singing, «I am going to see my husband / I'm happy, I'm happy, to see my husband.»«On my last day of press like...» Bailey wrote alongside the clip, adding laughing and winking emojis.on my last day of press like…

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor If anyone knows how to get the right shade of red for Black hair, it’s Camille Friend. The Oscar-nominated hair department head, whose credits include “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” experimented with adding color into Lupita Nyong’o’s hair, and now she’s doing it again. This time, it was for Halle Bailey in Disney’s live-action “The Little Mermaid.” But doing so didn’t come cheap. Her challenge was taking Disney’s most famous redhead, Princess Ariel, and creating a look for Bailey that would work. On top of that, maintaining Bailey’s natural hair was an important requirement she needed to meet. Bailey, who sports long locs, wanted to stay true to her Black heritage. And maintaining them without a wig would herald an important moment for representation and Bailey’s identity, as the movie presents Disney’s first Black Ariel (and first Black princess in a live-action movie.)

There’s a new Disney villain in town. Jessica Alexander stars as Vanessa, the human alter ego of Melissa McCarthy’s Ursula, in The Little Mermaid.

Jonah Hauer-King is the latest actor to become a Disney Prince, but he faced stiff competition for the part!

 when she was five, . “When I saw her, [I was] like, ‘She’s so beautiful; I want to be a mermaid too.’ She didn’t look like me, but I was okay with that because it was what I was used to at the time.” The next generation doesn't have to see things that way, though, and videos of with whom they identified have flooded the internet since Bailey was cast. “When I saw those [videos] for the first time, I just cried,” Bailey says.

The Little Mermaid” cast did their best at playing Variety’s “Name That Fish” on the red carpet at the movie’s premiere in Los Angeles Melissa McCarthy (Ursula), Jacob Tremblay (Flounder), Noma Dumezweni (Queen Selina), Daveed Diggs (Sebastian) and Javier Bardem (King Triton) were put to the test by Variety’s Marc Malkin to see just how much they know about life under the sea. When quizzed with images of various fish, answers included “basketball with spikes,” “sad fish,” “not Spongebob,” “swordy-thing” “not edible” and “definitely a fish.”

The Little Mermaid is a beloved Disney animated film that has inspired fans since it first was released in 1989. Mermaids, a Disney Prince, catchy songs and animal sidekicks - the film was destined to be a crowd favourite.

Jodi Benson, the actor that gave voice to Disney’s animated film The Little Mermaid, is showing her support for the live-action adaptation starring Halle Bailey.

Jodi Benson, the original voice behind Ariel in 1989’s “The Little Mermaid”, is giving her seal of approval to Disney’s live-action remake of the animated classic.

The Little Mermaid star is venturing away from home for the very first time. In her , the 23-year-old singer and actor shared that she moved into her first solo apartment after returning to Los Angeles from London, where she'd been filming the Disney live-action remake. After relocating from Georgia to California with her family in 2012, Halle recently took an important baby step toward independence by moving into a place of her own…in the same building as her 24-year-old sister “It’s nice because we’re neighbors and she’s always there when I need her, but we have our own space,” Halle told Glamour.

Ryan Seacrest has already booked a return to daytime as a guest on . Seacrest will appear on Thursday's episode for the first time since exiting the series last month. The 48-year-old media mogul previously co-hostedwith Kelly Ripa for nearly six years.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Jane Fonda revealed on a recent episode of “Watch What Happens Live” that French director René Clément asked to sleep with her during the making of their 1964 thriller “Joy House.” Fonda starred in the film opposite Alain Delon and Lola Albright. “Watch What Happens Live” host Andy Cohen asked Fonda to name “one man in Hollywood that tried to pick you up once that you turned down.” The Oscar-winning actor replied: “The French director René Clément.” Fonda elaborated, “Well, he wanted to go to bed with me because he said the character had to have an orgasm in the movie and he needed to see what my orgasms were like. He said it in French and I pretended I didn’t understand.”

Beyoncé may be on her  world tour, but that didn't stop her from making sure her children -- Blue Ivy Carter, 11, and Sir and Rumi, 4 -- were treated to a special surprise!On Monday, Bey's mom, Tina Knowles-Lawson, took to Instagram to share that she and her grandchildren were in attendance for the London premiere of Disney's live-action remake of Sharing a photo of herself from the event, Knowles-Lawson wrote, «At the premiere in London last night. Didn't get to go on the real beach red carpet last night, because I had my grand children but the carpet was so enchanting it looked like a beach.

Halle Bailey delivered a mesmerizing performance of “Part of your World” as she sang “The Little Mermaid” track live for the first time post-production.

Jonah Hauer-King is the latest actor to become a Disney Prince, but he faced stiff competition for the part!

“The Little Mermaid”The Dolby Theatre, HollywoodUnder the sea and back to Hollywood in a whole new way! At the world premiere of Walt Disney’s live-action adaptation of “The Little Mermaid” a crowd of excited fans helped make the atmosphere electric, cheering on the stars and their friends who walked the blue carpet. Adorned with shimmering seashell decorations and with the sounds of Caribbean music filling the air, the joyful feeling immersed everyone in the world of the film.“The Little Mermaid” herself, Halle Bailey, wowed in a shimmery sea-blue gown that evoked Ariel, while Melissa McCarthy, Javier Bardem, Art Malik, Awkwafina and director Rob Marshall gathered for the celebration. TheWrap caught up with Melissa McCarthy (who plays the much-loved musical’s iconic octopus villain Ursula), to discuss the backlash that African-American star Bailey experienced when cast as Ariel, who is white in the animated classic.