‘The Little Mermaid’: Lady Gaga Reportedly Eyed for Ursula in Disney Live-Action Remake

Lady Gaga is reportedly on Disney‘s wish list of potential actors for the role of Ursula in the studio’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.

On Wednesday, The Disinsider reported that Lady Gaga is “high” on the wish list for a role in the film. The site could not confirm this, and stressed it was only a rumor.

Disney also told Nerdist that casting has not started for The Little Mermaid, so this is only a rumor.

Last month, That Hashtag Show claimed Spider-Man: Homecoming actress Zendaya was already offered the role of Ariel, but her representatives did not confirm. When Variety asked Zendaya about the rumor, she said she would want to do it.

“I mean, yeah, why wouldn’t I?” she said.

Not much is known about the project, other than director Rob Marshall is expected to make it his next film after Mary Poppins Returns. Lin-Manuel Miranda is also reportedly writing new songs with the original film’s composer, Alan Menken. X-Men: Days of Future Past writer Jane Goldman is reportedly working on the script.

For Gaga, this would be another big step in her acting career after she received great reviews for her performance in Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born remake. In that film, she plays Ally, who becomes a star after meeting the drunk Jackson Maine, played by Cooper.

Lady Gaga also won a Golden Globe for her role in American Horror Story in 2016 and was already nominated for an Oscar for co-writing “Til It Happens To You” from the documentary The Hunting Ground. She also has six Grammy Awards.

The Little Mermaid is Disney’s latest live-action remake of a beloved animated film from their library. The studio has already had success with Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Maleficent, The Jungle Book and Alice In Wonderland. Up next is Tim Burton’s Dumbo, which opens on March 29, then Aladdin on May 29 and Mulan on March 27, 2020.

The Little Mermaid is based on the Hans Christian Andersen story of a mermaid princess who falls in love with a human prince and wants to become a human. It was followed by two direct-to-video sequels and a Broadway musical. The original songs were written by Menken with the late Howard Ashman. They won Oscars for the song “Under The Sea” and Menken won for his original score.

While we wait for The Little Mermaid, Marshall’s Mary Poppins Returns opens on Dec. 19.

Photo credit: Wiktor Szymanowicz / Barcroft Media via Getty Images