Some ‘Little Mermaid’ Fans Thought Halle Berry Was Cast as Ariel, Confusing Her With Halle Bailey

The Internet needs to take a few breaths before hitting send on their Little Mermaid reactions. Days after controversy swirled from Mellissa McCarthy’s possible casting as Ursula, Disney announced Wednesday R&B singer and actress Halle Bailey had been cast in the lead role of Ariel.

Some fans seemed to have read the name wrong in the announcement, as they started to comment about actress Halle Berry as if she had been the one to have gotten the role.

Luckily fans seemed to rectify their own mistakes pretty quickly, and congratulated the Grown-ish star on her exciting new role, taking on one of Disney’s most beloved princesses in the upcoming live action version of the film.

As first reported by Variety, Bailey was reportedly the first choice for the roll from the beginning of casting despite director Rob Marshall spending months meeting with other potential stars.

“After an extensive search, it was abundantly clear that Halle possesses that rare combination of spirit, heart, youth, innocence, and substance — plus a glorious singing voice — all intrinsic qualities necessary to play this iconic role,” Marshall said in a statement to the publication.

Bailey celebrated the casting herself Wednesday, sharing a photo on the Chloe x Halle Twitter account inspired by the classic Little Mermaid Disney film, though it featured a black-haired Ariel with darker skin.

Fans replied to her post and quickly sent their congratulations to the singer.

“SO PROUD,” one user commented.

“me and my niece gone see it 100 times thats whats crazy,” another user wrote.

“You’re gonna kill it Halle!!!” a third fan mused.

Along with Bailey, the cast for the film also includes Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina. Melissa McCarthy is in talks to play Ursula, which led to massive social media conversation late last week, as many fans hoped for singer Lizzo to be given the role. The “Truth Hurts” singer herself took to Twitter to share her disappointment when the McCarthy reports first surfaced.

The Little Mermaid live action film is set to use originals songs from the 1989 classic animated version, as well as new songs from original composer Alan Menken and Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda is producing the film along with Marshall, Marc Platt and John DeLuca.