Halle Bailey

Halle Bailey (birthname: Halle Lynn Bailey) is an R&B singer-turned-film actor as Disney’s The Little Mermaid (2023) star. Bailey’s first big-screen role was a supporting turn under Wayne Wang’s direction in the loose remake of J.B. Priestley’s original comedy-drama, Last Holiday (2006), starring Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Timothy Hutton, Gérard Depardieu, Alicia Witt, and Giancarlo Esposito.

After appearing as half of the Chloe x Halle act in Disney TV (2012’s Let It Shine) and Beyoncé music videos (2016’s “Lemonade”), as well as a recurring role in the TV series, Grown-ish (2018-2022), Bailey was cast in the plum role of Ariel in director Rob Marshall’s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, co-starring Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Melissa McCarthy, Awkwafina, and Jacob Tremblay, with new songs by songwriter/co-producer Lin-Manuel Miranda, and budgeted at $200 million.

Halle Bailey co-starred in her first non-musical feature film with co-stars Alex Wolff, Bo Mitchell, Austin Abrams, Nicholas Basile, John Malkovich, and Cheri Oteri in The Line (2023), co-written (with Zack Purdo and Alex Russek) and directed by Ethan Berger. Under Blitz Bazawule’s direction, Bailey was cast (with Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, H.E.R., and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) in the co-leading role of Warner Bros.’ musicalized remake of Alice Walker’s The Color Purple (2023), based on the 2005 Broadway production (with songs by Brenda Rusell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, and book by Marsha Norman) and backed by Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films with producers Quincy Jones and Scott Sanders.