With TheĀ Little MermaidĀ live-action remake coming to theaters soon, itās no surprise that Disney fans are incredibly excited to see the classic Disney movie come to life through the performances of Halle Bailey as Princess Ariel, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula the evil sea witch, Javier Bardem as King Triton, and Noma Dumezweni as Queen Selina. Jacob Tremblay voices Flounder, Daveed Diggs voices Sebastian, and Awkwafina voices Scuttle.
Itās a star-studded cast and highly anticipated film that promises fans an incredible performance and rendition of this fan-favorite movie, and if early reviewers are to be believed, we can expect all this and more!
Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric
Jonah Hauer-King began The Little MermaidāsĀ long-winded audition process in April 2019. The culmination of that process was a costumed chemistry test with his scene partner, Halle Bailey; Hauer-King beat out his competition, former One Direction boyband member and popstar Harry Styles for the role.
In an interview withĀ The Cut, Hauer-King delves deep into his exploration of Prince Eric as a character. He explains that in the 1989 movie, Ā Prince Eric was an āarchetypal prince ā¦ but we didnāt really get to know him very well.ā
Hauer-King elaborates that the live-action Eric is more ārestless and inquisitive about where he is in the world,ā similar to Princess Ariel, sharing that it gives that pairing more purpose. āHeās quite isolated and sensitive,ā he adds.
The interview revealed a little-known fact about the actor, though: acting wasnāt his first love. When he started out, it was all about music for him. Back in his teenage years, the āhuman heartthrobāāas described by Ursula, the iconic villain of the movieāwas playing small gigs with his indie-rock band. It was simply happenstance that he picked up an amateur acting gig at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe; Hauer-King met an agent, and as they say, the rest is history.
The Little Mermaid / Credit: Disney
Then, once again, Hauer-King put acting on hold for a second time in his life to pursue a degree at Cambridge University in theology and religious studies. A few acting gigs began filtering in, which Hauer-King balanced with his studies, and each of those steps led him to where he is today, playing the loveable Prince Eric in one of Disneyās biggest live-action remakes to date.
And weāre unequivocally glad it turned out the way it did!