17 Celebs Who Auditioned For Disney Princess Movies, But They Either Turned It Down Or Didn't Get The Role
Halle Bailey said she was "honored" to play Ariel in The Little Mermaid, and it's easy to understand why. Landing a lead role in a Disney movie would be a dream come true for many actors!
She told Reuters, "My hopes for this film are just for people to take away such love and joy and happiness when they leave and especially for all of the Black and brown little...boys and girls to be able to see themselves being represented on such a big scale."
In order to land a role like that, you typically have to audition against thousands of other actors. In the end, Disney chooses who they think is the best fit for the part, but it's interesting to see who else they considered.
Here are 17 celebs who auditioned for live-action Disney princess movies, but either got declined or rejected the role:
1.Lizzo showcased her audition for The Little Mermaid's Ursula in a since-privated viral video. She didn't get the part, but she "was down to make Ursula a THOT, shaking ass."
The role went to Melissa McCarthy, whom Lizzo met during a taping of Adele’s "One Night Only" concert.
The pop star told Variety, "She was like, 'Hi, I'm Melissa,' and I was like, 'Hi, I'm Melissa [her real name]. And I also auditioned for Ursula.' And she was like, 'Well, why the hell did I get the part?' which is a classic Melissa McCarthy thing to say. And then, I was like, 'Girl, because my audition was terrible.' ... My audition wasn't terrible. Sometimes, I like to make jokes. My audition was good. You can ask Disney. I don't want to talk too much about it. The singing was great. I'll just say that."
2.Harry Styles declined the role of Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid because he wanted "to put music out and focus on that for a while."
He told The Face, "But everyone involved in it was amazing, so I think it's going to be great. I'll enjoy watching it, I'm sure."
The part went to Jonah Hauer-King.
3.For the role of Prince Eric, Jack Whitehall submitted a "traumatic" self-tape, where his mom played the part of Ariel.
He told Variety, "It's really fucked up. I was flirting with my mom. Everything about it was wrong."
4.Shazam! actor Asher Angel threw his hat in the ring for Prince Eric, too.
He told Entertainment Tonight, "It means so much to me. I started off doing musical theater. One of my first ever shows, I was Flounder. It was really cute. ... I would love to do the live action, of course. There's so many amazing people in it that I would love to work with."
5.Chilling Adventures of Sabrina actor Gavin Leatherwood also auditioned to play Prince Eric.
On 2019, a fan on Twitter told him he should try out for the role, and he replied, "Maybe I already have."
6.Simu Liu auditioned to play Li Shang — which was one of his dream roles — in Mulan.
He told Vice, "It's not every day that Disney decides to adapt an animated feature into a big motion picture and not every day that the motion picture centers around Chinese people."
The character was actually cut from the live-action adaptation.
Explaining this decision, producer Jason Reed told Collider, "I think particularly in the time of the #MeToo movement, having a commanding officer that is also the sexual love interest was very uncomfortable, and we didn't think it was appropriate."
They decided to create two new characters to replace Shang. Reed continued, "We split Li Shang into two characters. One became Commander Tung (played by Donnie Yen) who serves as her surrogate father and mentor in the course of the movie. The other is Honghui (played by Yoson An) who is [Mulan’s] equal in the squad."
7.Anya Taylor-Joy auditioned for the teen version of Angelina Jolie's titular character in Maleficent.
She told BuzzFeed, "It was my first experience of rejection, like true rejection. And it was Disney which, for me, was like, 'Oh my god,' even though I look nothing like [Angelina Jolie]. I definitely cried for a very long time after that happened."
Ella Purnell played the role.
8.Idris Elba tried out for the role of Gaston in Beauty and the Beast because he loves musicals.
The part went to Luke Evans.
9.Kristen Stewart was reportedly an early contender for the role of Belle.
10.Before she played Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Emma Watson passed on the titular role in Cinderella.
The role went to Lily James.
11.Margot Robbie reportedly tested for the lead in Cinderella, too.
12.Saoirse Ronan was also reportedly considered for the role of Cinderella after her live-action Snow White and the Seven Dwarves adaptation, The Order of the Seven, was canceled.
Her Snow White movie was scrapped after two non-Disney adaptations, Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman, both came out in 2012.
13.Avan Jogia reportedly submitted an audition tape for the titular role in Aladdin.
The part went to Mena Massoud.
14.Dev Patel was reportedly considered to play Aladdin.
15.Riz Ahmed was also reportedly one of the actors Disney considered for the role of Aladdin early on.
16.Tara Sutaria — who starred on Oye Jassie and The Suite Life of Karan & Kabir, Disney India's adaptations of Jessie and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody — came close to playing Jasmine.
She told In.com, "I was actually supposed to do another film with Will Smith a year before we started Student of the Year 2 in London. I was working on this film Aladdin, which is, in fact, releasing a week after SOTY. So, I was meant to play Jasmine in that film. We would have worked together on that film, and it is so ironic that I didn't end up doing that film but I am doing this, and he actually came here and we ended up working on this."
The part went to Naomi Scott.
17.And finally, Little Mix member Jade Thirlwall tried out for Jasmine in Aladdin, but it "wasn’t meant to be."
She told Capital Breakfast, "I auditioned in [director] Guy Ritchie's living room. I had to sing 'A Whole New World' for him, which was very bizarre. ... I was absolutely bricking it, I was so nervous… just standing there like, 'You alright, Guy? Gonna sing for you.'"
