Halle Bailey (birthname:
Halle Lynn Bailey) is an R&B singer-turned-film actor as Disney’s
The Little Mermaid (2023) star. Bailey’s first big-screen role was a supporting turn under Wayne Wang’s direction in the loose remake of J.B. Priestley’s original comedy-drama,
Last Holiday (2006), starring Queen Latifah, LL Cool J, Timothy Hutton, Gérard Depardieu, Alicia Witt, and Giancarlo Esposito.
After appearing as half of the Chloe x Halle act in Disney TV (2012’s
Let It Shine) and Beyoncé music videos (2016’s “Lemonade”), as well as a recurring role in the TV series,
Grown-ish (2018-2022), Bailey was cast in the plum role of Ariel in director
Rob Marshall’s live-action remake of
The Little Mermaid, co-starring
Jonah Hauer-King, Daveed Diggs, Melissa McCarthy,
Awkwafina, and Jacob Tremblay, with new songs by songwriter/co-producer Lin-Manuel Miranda, and budgeted at $200 million.
Halle Bailey co-starred in her first non-musical feature film with co-stars Alex Wolff, Bo Mitchell, Austin Abrams, Nicholas Basile,
John Malkovich, and Cheri Oteri in
The Line (2023), co-written (with Zack Purdo and Alex Russek) and directed by Ethan Berger. Under Blitz Bazawule’s direction, Bailey was cast (with
Taraji P. Henson,
Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, H.E.R., and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) in the co-leading role of
Warner Bros.’ musicalized remake of Alice Walker’s
The Color Purple (2023), based on the 2005 Broadway production (with songs by Brenda Rusell, Allee Willis, and Stephen Bray, and book by Marsha Norman) and backed by
Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment and Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films with producers Quincy Jones and Scott Sanders.
Bailey co-starred with Regé-Jean Page in the Kat Coiro-directed rom-com,
You, Me & Tuscany (2026), co-written by Ryan and Kristin N. Engle, with Marco Calvani, Lorenzo de Moor, and Nia Vardalos, produced by Will Packer Productions, and released wide by Universal Pictures. Bailey co-starred with Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti in director/writer/producer
Jesse Eisenberg’s Untitled Jesse Eisenberg Musical Comedy (date to be announced), with Havana Rose Liu, Colton Ryan, Lilli Cooper, Maulik Pancholy, Bernadette Peter,s and Cara Buono, produced by Topic Studios/Fruit Tree and distributed by A24.