“She is perfect for the role”: Netizens opine Ariana Grande should have played Ariel in The Little Mermaid movie, amid Halle Bailey casting backlash

While many netizens are praising Disney for finally casting a black actress Ariel in the upcoming The Little Mermaid, others believe that Ariana Grande would have been perfect for the role. These people claim that Grande looks exactly like Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

Highlighting the same, a Twitter user said,

“Why is live action Ariel black tho? Ariana Grande was there live and they f**k*d it up. Better voice, used to act as a redhead, can actually act. She is perfect for the role.”

Additionally, people are also using AI to make Bailey white, as they believe that Ariel's role would suit a white actress better. Owing to all these racist remarks and controversies, the casting choice of signing Halle Bailey as Ariel is also being questioned by people on the internet.

The Little Mermaid trailer was released six days ago, and at the time of writing, it had received more than 17 million views with thousands of likes and comments.

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Netizens believe Ariana Grande would have been better suited as Ariel in The Little Mermaid

Since the release of The Little Mermaid's trailer, several users have been wishing that the casting directors had chosen Ariana Grande for the role of Ariel. People are claiming that the Stuck With U singer resembles the mermaid in the 1989 movie.

People basically seem to be thinking of Grande's red hair between 2009 and 2014 when she played the role of Cat Valentine in Nickelodeon's Victorious and in Sam & Cat. In both the shows, Grande was one of the lead characters and had bright red hair.

When both the shows stopped airing, Grande opened up about the damage all the hair coloring had done to her hair. Although the singer no longer colors her hair red, people still believe that with red hair, she would be perfect as Ariel in the upcoming live action movie.

One user wrote:

“Ariana grande would have been a great second choice for Ariel. Especially with her victorious hair… cause we know the voice is unmatchable…”

This was a sentiment that was shared by a lot of other people as well, who believed that Grande "is the real Ariel."

At the same time, there were people who were calling out those who used AI to make the character white. They said that replacing Ariel with AI was "going too far with the hate" as they told such people to "just don't go and watch the movie."

Others also felt that Grande, with her red hair, could have done absolute justice to the film’s character. One user tweeted that Ariana Grande would have been the "perfect Ariel" with her red hair and voice.

Some people were also of the opinion that Zendaya would have also been a "spot on" choice for Ariel's character.

Others also recommended singer Lizzo for the role of Ursula instead of Melissa McCarthy, who is currently essaying the role.

Right now, in the live action film, actress and singer Halle Bailey is playing the role of Ariel. According to the director Rob Marshall, the 22-year-old is the perfect combination of "spirit, heart, youth, innocence and also has a great voice." Bailey played small roles in the 2012 movies Joyful Noise and Let It Shine.