The Little Mermaid is a long, beloved story about a mermaid who falls for a man and makes a deal with a sea witch to become human. The original story was written by Hans Christian Anderson in 1837, and it was a much darker tale. Disney adapted this classic fairy tale into what would become one of the most adored animated films ever made. Many years following the original film's release back in 1989, Disney made the decision to do a live-action remake.
Updated September 22, 2023: This article has been updated to include new characters and details following the release of The Little Mermaid.
Since the reveal of the film’s production, The Little Mermaid has been the topic of great discussion, particularly over Halle Bailey's casting as Ariel. However, these unjustified and frankly racist complaints have since fallen to the wayside, with many praising the diversity within the cast and Bailey's star-making performance. The film had a successful run at the box office and has now been a hit since arriving on Disney+. Now, audiences who missed in theaters are likely catching it and wondering who all these familiar faces are. Here's your cast and character guide to the 2023 live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.
Halle Bailey as Ariel
Starring as Ariel, Triton's youngest daughter, who is fascinated by all things in the human world, is Halle Bailey. Bailey is a singer-songwriter and actress who has earned a total of five Grammy nominations for her musical work. As an actress, she has had minimal work, and, in fact, the role of Ariel was the first lead role of her career.
While a number of fans of the original animated film were upset at the decision to cast a Black woman in the role of Ariel, the decision to cast Bailey was not taken lightly. She possesses the required level of vocal and acting skills to perform this role better than anyone else could, and her vocal performance won many audience members over when it rang out in the theater.
Javier Bardem as King Triton
One of the most well-known actors on the cast list is Javier Bardem, who plays the role of King Triton, Ariel's father, who despises the human world. Since he won an Academy Award for his role in No Country for Old Men, Bardem has been typecast in villain roles throughout most of his career. While Triton is not exactly The Little Mermaid's antagonist, he does pose a problem to Ariel as he opposes everything she cares about, especially her curiosity about the human world.
Bardem's career has been very busy lately, with him taking on the role of Stilgar in the critically acclaimed remake of Dune, which he will reprise in Dune: Part Two. Many fans of the movie were pleased to see his strong presence as the overprotective father, capturing the larger-than-life atmosphere of the King of the Sea.
Melissa McCarthy as Ursula
Melissa McCarthy's name is typically associated with comedy movies like Bridesmaids and Spy. However, having her in a villain role with her own comedic spin was just the combination needed to portray a perfect Ursula, especially considering that, in the animated feature, the sea witch does have a sarcastic, somewhat comedic tone to her.
Many fans were pleasantly surprised to see McCarthy as the sea witch with oodles of tentacles. Of all the characters, she felt the most like her animated counterpart. The remake added the detail that Ursula and King Triton are siblings, a detailed backstory element from the original animated film that was scrapped.
Jonah Hauer-King as Eric
Ariel's love interest, Prince Eric, whom she saves from drowning, is portrayed by Jonah Hauer-King. Hauer-King is an English actor who made headlines starring in the miniseries Howard's End. He went on to star in Little Woman, The Last Photograph, and A Dog's Way Home. Thanks to the casting as Eric in The Little Mermaid, he has gained the honor of portraying the lead character, Lale, in the upcoming adaptation of The Tattooist of Aushwitz.
Jacob Tremblay as Flounder
Flounder, Ariel's best friend and reliable companion, is portrayed by the young Jacob Tremblay. Starring in Room in 2015 at the young age of nine, Tremblay became the youngest actor to receive a nomination for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role. He went on to star in Doctor Sleep and was the title voice of the Pixar film Luca.
Needless to say, Tremblay was the perfect choice for Flounder, thanks to having oodles of experience despite only being 16 years old. Unfortunately, his vocal performance was overshadowed by the character design of the CGI fish, which unnerved many fans. Even if he doesn't look as colorful and cheery as his animated counterpart, Flounder's role in the film is virtually the same.
Daveed Diggs as Sebastian
Daveed Diggs is an actor, singer-songwriter, and rapper who earned a Tony for his performance as Marquis de Lafayette and Thomas Jefferson in the critically acclaimed musical Hamilton. Since leaving Hamilton, Diggs has gone on to star in Black-ish and Wonder, and he is also a regular on the TV adaptation of Snowpiercer.
Casting Diggs as Sebastian, the crab, was a phenomenal choice, as the actor has plenty of musical experience to do the character's iconic songs "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl" justice. Much like Flounder, the CGI character's design didn't translate as well to a more realistic style. The animated crab doesn't do Diggs' performance justice.
Awkwafina as Scuttle
Perhaps one of the biggest casting changes done in this live-action remake was changing the gender of Scuttle, effectively swapping the bird from a male seagull to a female diving bird called a northern gannet. As such, Scuttle is now voiced by Awkwafina, an American actress, rapper, and comedian. She has starred in a number of prominent films, including Crazy Rich Asians, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, and The Farewell, the latter of which earned her a historic Golden Globe. Considering that Scuttle adds a lot of comic relief to the film, Awkwafina is the perfect choice.
Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina
A new addition to the live-action film that was not present in the animated film is Queen Selina, Eric's mother. Noma Dumezweni is a South African British actress who has numerous accolades under her belt, including a Laurence Olivier Award and a Tony Award for her performance as Hermione in The Cursed Child.
Dumezweni's film credits include Mary Poppins Returns and The Kid Who Would Be King. She also appeared in two episodes of Doctor Who and was a guest star on Only Murders in the Building. Queen Selina was a brand-new character created for the live-action film and helped develop Eric's family and personal life more.
Art Malik as Grimsby
Grimsby is Eric's loyal butler, who looks out for the young man and wishes to see him married to the right young woman. Art Malik is most known for his roles in British and Indian television throughout the 1980s, making appearances in films like True Lies, Dean Spanley, and A Passage to India. Casting a Pakistan-born Brit in the role of a typical Colonial British Man is a refreshing change of pace for The Little Mermaid that opens the door for greater diversity, even among minor characters.
Jessica Alexander as Vanessa
Vanessa is Ursula's human alter-ego. Ursula takes on the appearance of a beautiful human in order to pull Eric away from Ariel so that she can keep the mermaid stuck in a curse. Portraying Ursula's alter-ego is Jessica Alexander, who rose to fame after her performance in the Netflix series Get Even.
Alexander made her film debut in Glasshouse and A Banquet, adding to her filmography before she had the chance to wow audiences with her performance in The Little Mermaid. Since her filmography is quite limited, it's entirely possible that her role in The Little Mermaid will open new doors for her career. She might not be in the film much, but she certainly shines and hopefully we see more of her.
The Sisters
In the original animated film, Ariel has a lot of sisters. The same can be said about the remake, but a few things were changed about it. While alluded to in the original, the remake confirms each of the sisters represents a specific ocean. Lorena Andrea plays Perla, with Nathalie Sorrell as Caspia. Simone Ashley is Indria, and Karolina Conchet is Mala. Sienna King is Tamika and Kasja Mohammar is Karina. The sister's role is not that much bigger than the original, but they are given a scene with Ariel to develop the sister's relationship.
Jodi Benson as The Market Vendor
In The Little Mermaid's best moment, original Ariel voice actor Jodi Benson cameos as a merchant in Eric's village. Appropriately, she hands Ariel a fork, or as Ariel knows it, a dinglehopper, and she curls her hair with it just like her animated counterpart. It is a sweet moment, with the original Ariel voice actor literally passing the dinglehopper to the new Ariel.
In addition to voicing Ariel, Benson also voiced Barbie in Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3. She filled in for Paige O'Hara as the voice of Belle in House of Mouse. She also appeared in live-action in Enchanted, a love letter to the Disney Princess movies. She also lent her voice to Flubber. Benson truly is a Disney legend.