Halle Bailey Recalls Emotional Bout Filming Little Mermaid During Pandemic

Halle Bailey recently reflected on an emotional period she had while filming The Little Mermaid during the coronavirus pandemic. 

The actor, who portrays Ariel in Disney’s upcoming live-action remake, told People in a sit-down interview published on Thursday that she lived alone while filming and that it helped her feel connected to her character’s classic song Part of Your World.

The film was originally set to film in England in March 2020, but filming was delayed until 2021 due to the pandemic.

“We were in the height of the pandemic, and I was suddenly living alone in London away from everything I knew,” Bailey said in the video. “So it did feel like a different world for me, and it did feel like I was underwater in a way.”

“I was grateful that I had that experience of feeling that isolation, because I was able to play through Ariel and how she felt,” she said later.

The actor had explained earlier in the interview that her performance of “Part of Your World” was filmed in three parts and that it involved stunt work and “a lot of physicality.” 

Bailey had previously opened up about the grueling physical demands she experienced filming the movie.

She told Edition magazine in March that she spent some days filming in the water for 13 hours. 

“I pushed myself as far as I’ve ever pushed myself in life,” she said. 

Bailey performed Part of Your World in front of a live audience for the first time on Sunday.

The Little Mermaid is set to hit cinemas on May 26.