Halle Bailey Clarifies Her Ariel Is "Not Against Falling In Love" In New 'Little Mermaid'

Earlier today, the Twitter account for Pop Crave posted a tweet which pulled a quote from an interview that The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey did with the outlet Edition.

The quote claimed that the version of Ariel fans would be seeing in the updated The Little Mermaid would “more nuanced.”

“We’ve definitely changed that perspective of just her wanting to leave the ocean for a boy,” Bailey is quoted as saying. “It’s way bigger than that. It’s about herself, her purpose, her freedom, her life and what she wants.”

Halle Bailey says her version of Ariel is “more nuanced” than the original ‘The Little Mermaid’:

“we’ve definitely changed that perspective of just her wanting to leave the ocean for a boy. It’s way bigger than that. It’s about herself, her purpose, her freedom, her life and… https://t.co/5uwWDltu65 pic.twitter.com/Skq1oqNJ1t
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) March 20, 2023

While it technically true, the quote was taken a bit out of context. This led many to believe that the updated version of Ariel wouldn’t be the hopeless romantic she was in the original.

READ: Ariel’s New Song “For The First Time” in ‘The Little Mermaid’ is All About Her First Time on Land

Some fans were happy about this alleged change.

That’s awesome to hear 😊
— Romi Chase (@romi_chase) March 20, 2023

Some were angry.

I'm sick of that narrative, in the 1989 movie Ariel is actually very interested in knowing the human world way before meeting Eric and it's not a crime to fall in love with someone
— Juanma Gazapo (@JuanmaGazapo) March 20, 2023

Some were confused.

In the original, she had that entire grotto of human stuff she collected before even meeting Prince Eric, so she didn’t “just want to leave the ocean for a boy”… the feminism angle getting pushed here is unnecessary
— Juliet AF 🏳️‍🌈🇺🇸 (@ArtaxEffedMeUp) March 21, 2023

This led to Bailey clarifying what she meant herself. In a quote tweet, the star wrote, “In the original story those themes &qualities about Ariel were always there…you will just see more of that side of her in our film I think.”

Referencing her public relationship to rapper DDG, she added, “I’m not against falling in love y’all – duhh hello lmao.”

in the original story those themes &qualities about ariel were always there..you will just see more of that side of her in our film i think❤️i’m not against falling in love y’all duhh hello lmao 🙋🏽‍♀️💕 https://t.co/OaGAnsDHTO
— Halle (@HalleBailey) March 21, 2023

So it seems like the new adaptation won’t be so drastically different from the original after all. However, we will just have to wait until the film comes out to see for ourselves.

SEE IT: Halle Bailey Reacts To Her Own ‘The Little Mermaid’ Doll

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).

Aside from Bailey, the film stars 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, Daveed Diggs (Snowpiercer) as Sebastian, and Jacob Tremblay (Room) as Flounder. Also set to star is Emily Coates, Jude Akuwudike, Noma Dumezweni, Russell Balogh, and Adrian Christopher.

It will splash to hit theaters on May 26, 2023.

SOURCES: Edition, Pop Crave, Halle Bailey