What is Jessica Alexander's ethnicity? Fans applaud The Little Mermaid actress for allegedly blocking netizens who wanted her to be Ariel

Jessica Alexander is the 23-year-old actress, who played Vanessa in the 2023 live animation remake of The Little Mermaid. She has allegedly blocked people who wanted her to be Ariel in the new film. The actress shared the trailer of the movie on Instagram on May 28, 2023, two days after the movie’s release.

However, a few netizens commented that they were disappointed in the actress, who is of white ethnicity, for blocking them. They said that in their comments, they had claimed that they Jessica to play the role instead of Halle Bailey.

In 2019, when Halle Bailey was cast as the titular role in the adaptation, it sparked racist backlash online. People complained that she did not look like the original 1989 version of Disney’s Ariel, who was illustrated as a Caucasian character.

Halle later insisted that the casting backlash was inconsequential compared to the extreme racism her grandparents faced in the United States. However, it seems like some people are still hung up on opposing the casting.

A Jessica Alexander Twitter fan page tweeted about how the actress had been blocking people for saying she should have played Ariel. Multiple fans have applauded Jessica for standing her ground against racism

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Jessica Alexander praised by fans for blocking racists

Jessica was praised by fans for not taking any back-handed compliments from racists who indirectly expressed their opinion in her post's comment section. These people were claiming that they were not content with Halle Bailey being cast as Ariel due to her skin color.

However, Halle's co-star Jessica Alexander defended her by blocking those people who wanted Jessica to be Ariel instead. In the new phone, Jessica plays the antagonist Ursula's human alter-ego Vanessa in upcoming the movie.

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The casting of The Little Mermaid and Jessica Alexander as Vanessa

The modification of the conventional Ariel was not welcomed by many. Nonetheless, Halle's co-actors in the movie, including Jessica Alexander have sung praises of the actress for her phenomenal performance. Jessica also said in a red-carpet interview that Halle was magical as Ariel and praised her singing.

In a previously uploaded Instagram story, Jessica exclaimed that she felt cool while lip-syncing to Halle's singing voice in the movie. She wrote:

"It's like cosplaying having the voice of an angel best karaoke session ever"

The live-action remake of Disney’s 1989 classic experienced plenty of waves of criticism as well as praise for its casting choices. The remake introduced the world’s first Black Ariel, Halle Bailey. Melissa McCarthy embraced her role as the villainous sea witch Ursula with drag queens as a significant influence.

On casting Jessica Alexander as Vanessa, Director Rob Marshall said that it was rare for someone that charismatic and beautiful to be able to turn into a sea witch in front of everyone. As the filmmaker, he said it was exciting for him to see that change. Rob Marshall said:

"Our Vanessa, she's such a wonderful actor, It was so clear, right from the beginning."

The actress previously appeared in the 2022 thriller movie, Into The Deep, and Netflix’s 2020 thriller series Get Even. Much like the animated version, the live-action movie also shows Jessica Alexander’s Vanessa for only a handful of minutes as she tries to woo Prince Eric, Ariel’s true love.

However, her performance earned her immense praise and she has already been dubbed “Mother” for her bold approach to defending co-star Halle. Viewers were beyond impressed with Jessica's performance and wished to see more of her work in the future.