Deadline has spoken to The Little Mermaid director Rob Marshall. In an interview, the conversation turned to the dissatisfaction of some fans with the choice of black Halle Bailey for the lead role. Of course, Rob’s answers turned out to be as typical as possible – he believes that the skin color of the actress is unimportant, but at the same time … he is proud of the skin color of the actress:
I first saw Holly at the Grammys when we first started casting. We searched everywhere, and our goal was not to cast a woman of color. We just wanted to find the best Ariel. And then I saw this beautiful creature with an angelic voice. I had no idea if she could play, but I thought she was very ethereal and otherworldly. And when she sang Part of Your World, by the end of the song I burst into tears. I didn’t even realize I was crying.
I didn’t think it was a big deal to cast a black woman in the lead role. I thought it was an archaic way of looking at the world. When narrow-minded people started this controversy, I thought, “Wow, that sounds like we’re in some other century. Are we still there?” After the casting, I saw all these colored girls and colored boys looking at Holly and thinking, “Wow, she’s just like me.” It was very, very touching for me.
Holly’s choice to play Ariel makes me deeply proud and an important reminder that this is still new in some ways. The idea that women and men of color should play all roles. We are still developing and growing in this area. It’s important that people are represented, it’s important that people see themselves on screen and don’t feel like outsiders.
When I went back to Hans Christian Anderson’s tale, which I immediately did, I found a very modern story about an outsider, about a man who felt he didn’t fit in with society. Who felt to some extent forced out and saw his life differently. It was very modern for me, this idea that a young girl breaks down all the barriers, boundaries and walls that are put between her and the other world. She builds a bridge to this world and learns not to be afraid of those who are different from her.
The film is about prejudice. As the world becomes more and more divided in many ways, this film seems to be the antidote to it all. Throughout the making of the film, he seemed to be an antidote to this division, an important reminder that we are, in fact, all one.
In addition to Halle Bailey, The Little Mermaid starred Javier Bardem (Triton), Melissa McCarthy (Ursula), John Hauer-King (Prince Eric), David Diggs (Sebastian), Aquafina (Scuttle), Jacob Tremblay (Flounder).
The Little Mermaid will be released in theaters on May 26.
