Halle Bailey Was Emotional While Filming “Part of Your World”

Everyone is anxiously waiting for the D23 Expo later this year for their first glimpse of Halle Bailey as Ariel in Disney’s live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid. While filming on the project concluded last summer, the cast and crew are still working on the project via post-production. Bailey recently spoke with STYLECASTER, and she shared one of her most emotional moments on set.

“I definitely would say ‘Part of Your World,’” Halle tells the site of the most emotional scene from The Little Mermaid to shoot. “It was really surreal to film. It was really emotional for me. It was three days of intense being all over the place. I was crying the whole time because I was just like, ‘What the heck?’ We’re all connected to that song and it means a lot to each of us.”

Bailey also revealed, while the film will be faithful to the 1989 original animated classic, this new incarnation will have some modern takes, “I think everyone will be pleasantly surprised by some updates of the themes of the film,” she says. “More so on Ariel’s side of women empowerment and her taking her power back.”

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Directed by Rob Marshall (Into The Woods), The Little Mermaid will feature the original music by Alan Menken (Tangled and 1989’s The Little Mermaid) in addition to four brand new songs co-written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Encanto). Joining Halle Bailey, the cast also includes Jonah Hauer-King (A Dog’s Way Home) as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids) as Ursula, Awkwafina (Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings) as Scuttle, and Daveed Diggs (Snowpiercer) as Sebastian. Also set to star is Emily Coates, Jessica Alexander, Jude Akuwudike, Noma Dumezweni, Russell Balogh, and Adrian Christopher.

Disney has The Little Mermaid on schedule to hit theaters on May 26, 2023.