Halle Bailey Reveals Newest Little Mermaid Doll in Emotional Video: 'This Means So Much to Me'
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Halle Bailey/instagram
Halle Bailey has marked another milestone in her journey to becoming a Disney princess.
The 22-year-old actress revealed the newest Little Mermaid doll, a replica of herself that even captures the mole above her left eyebrow.
Bailey, one half of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle, stars as Ariel in the upcoming live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid, which is set to release Memorial Day weekend.
"Today I have something really exciting to reveal to you all," Bailey said in a sweet Instagram video posted Monday. "I am going to cry. This is the new Little Mermaid doll. I am literally choking up because this means so much to me, and to have one that looks like me, that is my favorite Disney character, is very surreal.
"And, look — she even has my mole. See!"
The doll has the same red hair that Bailey sports in the movie.
"I am just stunned," Bailey said, near tears. "I don't quite know what to do with it, but I am going to steal this and take it home and hide it forever."
Bailey's post was met with celebration. "IM BUYING 100 OF THEM!!!" wrote her sister Chloe Bailey.
Even the iconic Barbie brand commented: "Well deserved 👏❤️."
Bailey wrote in her Instagram caption that "the little girl in me is pinching herself right now."
"I have my own Little Mermaid Ariel doll !!! I can't believe how much she captures my version of this iconic character 🥹💕brb gonna go cry now," she added.
Bailey auditioned for the role in 2019 and wrapped shooting in 2021. The world saw their first glimpse of the Grown-ish actor as Ariel in a teaser trailer released in September of last year.
Many celebrated Bailey as the iconic character, but some expressed negative feedback that the studio did not cast a white actress who resembled the red-haired cartoon from the animated movie.
Bailey has said her family helped support her through the vitriol.
Her grandparents opened up about their own experiences with discrimination.
"It was an inspiring and beautiful thing to hear their words of encouragement, telling me, 'You don't understand what this is doing for us, for our community, for all the little Black and brown girls who are going to see themselves in you,' " Bailey told Variety in August of last year.
Despite some of the negativity, Bailey has celebrated representation, sharing videos of young Black girls who watched in awe as they saw a Disney princess who looked like them.
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In a September 2022 interview with PEOPLE, Bailey said she sobbed after finishing the film.
"I remember at the end of filming, wrap day, I was just sobbing because I truly felt like I had come out of this cocoon with Ariel," said Bailey. "This story has done so much for me and the filming process has really kind of changed my life. I'd definitely say it mirrored what Ariel goes through in the film."
The Little Mermaid is in theaters on May 26.
