Beyonce Gave Halle Bailey Powerful Advice When She Was Cast As The Little Mermaid
Beyonce gave Halle Bailey the advice to be herself and stand in her power when she was cast as Ariel in The Little Mermaid.
Disney’s upcoming The Little Mermaid live-action film has sparked a lot of controversy ever since it was first announced, but Halle Bailey has had some help dealing with it from none other than the Queen Bey herself, Beyonce. According to Entertainment Weekly, Halle Bailey says that “[Beyonce] just told me to stand in my power and to not give up and to know that I can do this and believe in myself.”
“She’s always been very, very complimentary and proud of me, and that means the world coming from her, somebody that’s been one of my biggest inspirations since I was 3,” Halle Bailey went on, describing how awesome it is to be held in such high esteem by her role model, Beyonce. In fact, the bond between the two of them can be described as mentor-mentee, with Halle Bailey being considered a protege of one of music’s most famous acts.
Halle Bailey, like Beyonce before her, began her career in music. She is a part of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle with her older sister, Chloe. The two have often been mistaken for twins (and even played twins on the television series Grown-ish), and began their musical career by posting music covers on YouTube. It was there that Beyonce first discovered both girls and eventually took them under her wing – and signed them to her label, Parkwood Entertainment.
Halle Bailey and her sister benefited a lot from Beyonce’s help. While the talent and the accolades are all their own, it certainly helped their career to be recognized by Beyonce as someone worth supporting! The duo went on to be nominated for numerous Grammy Awards and to see their songs reach the top 20 on the Billboard Top 200.
Halle Bailey, who is now 23, was just 18 when she was cast as Ariel in The Little Mermaid, and she, of course, was a bit nervous about the whole thing. She went to Beyonce for advice, who told her not to give up and that she should keep believing in herself. Hey, if it works for Beyonce, why shouldn’t it work for her protege?
Halle Bailey’s mentor Beyonce has also transitioned from music to movie musicals in the past, starring in films like Dream Girls, which she helped to make a major hit. In this musical, based on the animated version of The Little Mermaid from 1989, Halle Bailey plays the youngest daughter of King Triton, played by Javier Bardem.
Like in the animated film, Halle Bailey’s Ariel yearns to explore the mysteries of the world above the water’s surface. She also develops feelings for Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer-King), whom she saves from a sinking ship. Ariel makes a deal with Ursula the sea witch (played by Melissa McCarthy) to be able to walk on land on her own two legs, but this jeopardizes not just her own future, but her father’s entire underwater kingdom.
In real life, Halle Bailey was also seeking Beyonce’s advice because, while she is not the “baby” sister of her family like Ariel is, she had also never done such a big role on her own without Chloe before. It was a whole new world, as another Disney princess would say, and she was glad to have Beyonce around to give her some guidance.
