Halle Bailey Made Ariel’s Iconic Red Hair Her Own With Copper Locs for The Little Mermaid– Here’s How She Got the Appearance

Halle Bailey has actually singlehandedly redefined what it implies to be– and appear like– a princess, an honor the star does not ignore. “I keep in mind Ariel being the factor I wished to swim,” Bailey, who fell for the initial Little Mermaid when she was 5, informs Glamour “When I saw her, [I was] like, ‘She’s so lovely; I wish to be a mermaid too.’ She didn’t appear like me, however I was all right with that since it was what I was utilized to at the time.”

The next generation does not need to see things this way, however, and videos of young Black ladies happily responding to an Ariel with whom they recognized have actually flooded the web considering that Bailey was cast. “When I saw those [videos] for the very first time, I simply sobbed,” Bailey states. “I was sobbing frantically. The reality that these children are taking a look at me and feeling the feelings that they’re feeling is a truly humbling, lovely thing.”

Bailey understands how impactful seeing oneself onscreen can be, as she herself was moved by The Princess and the Frog, in which star and vocalist Anika Noni Rose plays the titular princess. “I understand just how much of that film altered my entire point of view on life,” she states. “Wow, this is possible. Black princesses are possible. We are worthy of to use up these areas too.”

While the live-action Mermaid pulls greatly from the original’s plot, there are some crucial modifications, the most evident of which are visual. Certainly, adjustments are needed anytime you adjust animation to live-action, however Bailey and the appeal department needed to reimagine Ariel as a lady of color too. Bailey and the group decided to keep her hair red– that was vital– however chose copper locs to make it her own.

“[Ariel still] has red hair, since that’s an extremely renowned part of her, however I truly did appreciate the reality that since I’m a Black lady and I have locs, [the producers] wished to include that into Ariel’s appearance,” Bailey states. Hair Stylist Camille Friend was entrusted with the improvement that required coloring Bailey’s roots red and covering her locs with hair the very same shade.