The Little Mermaid star Halle Bailey responds to racist backlash: 'As a Black person, you just expect it'

Halle Bailey has opened up about all the racists who are butt hurt about her casting as Ariel in Disney's live-action/CG-animated The Little Mermaid.

"As a Black person, you just expect it and it's not really a shock anymore," Bailey tells The Face in a new cover story interview. ​"When [Chlöe and I] first signed to Parkwood, [Beyoncé] was always like: ​'I never read my comments. Don't ever read the comments.' Honestly, when the teaser came out, I was at the D23 Expo and I was so happy. I didn't see any of the negativity."

When the singer, one-half of Beyoncé-blessed duo Chloe x Halle, was first announced in the role of Ariel, racists crawled out of the woodwork to decry the casting. Another wave of vitriol came when the first teaser trailer, touting Bailey's rendition of "Part of Your World," screened at Disney's big fan convention, the D23 Expo.

"I know people are like: ​'It's not about race.' But now that I'm her… People don't understand that when you're Black there's this whole other community," Bailey says. "It's so important for us to see ourselves."

In stark contrast to the racism are all the videos posted to social media by Black parents capturing their children's reaction to seeing Bailey's Ariel for the first time. "I was crying all night for two days, just staring at them in disbelief," the actress says. ​"It makes me feel more grateful for where I am."

The story of The Little Mermaid will take a few turns away from the source materials — the original Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale and the Disney animated film. Director Rob Marshall saw Ariel as "a very modern woman, someone who sees her life differently than anyone around her, and goes to find that dream."

Marshall previously told EW that there was "no agenda" in casting Ariel. "We just were looking for the best actor for the role, period. The end," he said. "We saw everybody and every ethnicity."

In an interview with EW out of D23, Bailey spoke about Marshall and how he wanted to incorporate Bailey's look into the role of Ariel, including her locs.

"With Rob, he's so amazing and just saying, 'I see you and I want to bring you into the character,'" Bailey recalled. "So it was a beautiful thing. My hair, for example — incorporating my locs into the red hair was something that was really special to me. The outfit, the fins, everything. It's just amazing. I'm just grateful that I've been able to take the essence of me and mix the two."

The Little Mermaid will release in theaters on May 26.

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