LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Halle Bailey is on a roll. The singer's latest offering is all set to hit the theaters on Friday, May 26 with the live-action remake of the 1989 Disney classic ‘The Little Mermaid’, and meanwhile, the trailer and the first look of another ambitious project, ‘The Color Purple’ also starring her was released on May 22, Monday.
As soon as the teaser for the musical 'The Color Purple' was released, fans fell in love with Bailey's appearance. She will play Nettie, Celie's younger sister, in the movie. The trailer features the young Nettie telling her older sister, “Dear Celie, we have more than just kings and queens,” before adding, “We are at the center of the universe.” ‘The Color Purple’, which is slated to release during Christmas, 2023, is being produced by Oprah Winfrey who received an Oscar nomination for playing Sofia in the 1985 original version. Steven Spielberg, who was the original director, is also acting as another producer for the new Blitz Bazawule directorial.
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‘We’re both the younger sister’
In a 2022 interview, Bailey talked about her experience of being Nettie on-screen, “We’re both the younger sister, we’re both the headstrong one and we speak up, and we’re very, very protective of our older sister." “It was so cool to play this character where she had all of these pieces of me, but I think she’s a bit more sure of herself," Bailey told Variety.
In the same interview, she also talked about being star-struck by Oprah. As the shooting was wrapping up, Oprah, (the producer for the musical) visited her to congratulate her with flowers. Bailey recounted, “It was an emotional scene, so completing it was like, ‘Wow, I did it!’ And out of nowhere, she came at me with flowers, and I was just like, ‘Oh, my gosh. It’s Oprah'."
When Bailey was announced to play the lead character Ariel in 'The Little Mermaid', her casting drew a lot of opposition. In the case of 'The Color Purple' musical, the Internet seems to be divided. While some are eager to see her show her mettle in another classic remake, some critics questioned the need for her to be in one and some went as far as asking why was there a need to redo the original.
'Is this woman ever gonna star in something that isn’t a remake?'
"Is this woman ever gonna star in something that isn’t a remake?" asked a troll commenting on Bailey's penchant for starring in remakes of classics. Another social media user was hopeful about the remake as they said, "I'll watch it when it comes out hopefully this movie will good not be ruined like most remakes have been lately because I love the original it's one of my favorite movies." The third said, "Are they remaking the Color purple? Why? The original was already a masterpiece."
However, there were certainly some excited supporters of the singer and actress as one user commented, "It’s her year," before adding a GIF. Another resonated the feeling, "Her getting the little mermaid bag and this in the same year oh she’s set for life i fear." Another fan rooted for Bailey to become a DC girl, "Now Halle just needs to be a DC girl like Anthea, Supergirl and Mary Shazam." Someone noticed her choice of movies and commented, "Going straight from a light hearted Disney film to something as dark & gritty as The Color Purple." One social media user felt confident as they shared, "@HalleBailey is going to have a good film season this year. Opportunity for multiple nominations." Another chimed, " Halle is entering her movie star era."
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