Everyone from Harry Styles to Jack Whitehall was in the running to playact Prince Eric inThe Little Mermaid !
Halle Baileysaid she was “honored” to play Ariel inThe Little Mermaid, and it’s easy to understand why. Landing a lead role in aDisney moviewould be a dream come true for many actors!
She toldReuters , " My hopes for this film are just for people to take away such dear and joyousness and felicity when they will and especially for all of the Black and brown lilliputian … boy and girls to be able to see themselves being lay out 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,Disneychooses 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-actionDisney princessmovies, but either got declined or rejected the role:
1.Lizzoshowcased her audition forThe Little Mermaid’s Ursula in a since-privatedviral video. She didn’t get the part, but she “was down to make Ursula a THOT, shaking ass.”
The purpose went to Melissa McCarthy , whom Lizzo met during a tape of Adele ’s " One Night Only " concert .
The soda pop ace toldVariety , " She was like , ' Hi , I ’m Melissa , ' and I was like , ' Hi , I ’m Melissa [ her existent name ] . And I also auditioned for Ursula . ' And she was like , ' Well , why the hellhole did I get the part ? ' which is a classic Melissa McCarthy thing to say . And then , I was like , ' young lady , because my audition was atrocious . ' … My audition was n’t terrible . Sometimes , I like to make jokes . My tryout was dependable . you could ask Disney . I do n’t desire to verbalize too much about it . The singing was great . I ’ll just say that . "
2.Harry Styles declined the role of Prince Eric inThe Little Mermaidbecause he wanted “to put music out and focus on that for a while.”
He toldThe Face , " But everyone involve in it was amazing , so I think it ’s going to be great . I ’ll enjoy watch 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 toldVariety , " It ’s really jazz up . I was dally with my momma . Everything about it was wrong . "
4.Shazam!actor Asher Angel threw his hat in the ring for Prince Eric, too.
He toldEntertainment Tonight , " It have in mind so much to me . I started off doing musical theater . One of my first ever show , I was Flounder . It was really cute . … I would bonk to do the live action , of form . There ’s so many amazing hoi polloi in it that I would love to lick with . "
5.Chilling Adventures of Sabrinaactor Gavin Leatherwood also auditioned to play Prince Eric.
On 2019 , a fan onTwittertold him he should try out for the role , and he replied , " mayhap I already have . "
6.Simu Liu auditioned to play Li Shang — which was one of his dream roles — inMulan.
He toldVice , " It ’s not every daytime that Disney decide to adapt an animated feature into a big move picture and not every day that the motion photo centers around Chinese people . "
The role was actually cut from the live - action adjustment .
Explaining this decision , producer Jason Reed toldCollider , " I cogitate especially in the time of the # MeToo movement , having a command military officer that is also the intimate love pastime was very uncomfortable , and we did n’t conceive it was appropriate . "
They make up one’s mind to create two new character to replace Shang . Reed continued , " We split Li Shang into two character . One became Commander Tung ( played by Donnie Yen ) who serves as her foster father and mentor in the line of the flick . The other is Honghui ( played by Yoson An ) who is [ Mulan ’s ] adequate in the squad . "
7.Anya Taylor-Joy auditioned for the teen version of Angelina Jolie’s titular character inMaleficent.
She toldBuzzFeed , " 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 seem nothing like [ Angelina Jolie ] . I definitely exclaim for a very longsighted time after that fall out . "
Ella Purnell played the role .
8.Idris Elbatried outfor the role of Gaston inBeauty and the Beastbecause he loves musicals.
The part go away to Luke Evans .
9.Kristen Stewart wasreportedlyan early contender for the role of Belle.
10.Before she played Belle inBeauty and the Beast, Emma Watsonpassedon the titular role inCinderella.
The theatrical role went to Lily James .
11.Margot Robbiereportedlytested for the lead inCinderella, too.
12.Saoirse Ronan was also reportedlyconsideredfor the role of Cinderella after her live-actionSnow White and the Seven Dwarvesadaptation,The Order of the Seven, was canceled.
Her Snow White movie was scrap after two non - Disney adaptations , Mirror MirrorandSnow White and the Huntsman , both came out in 2012 .
13.Avan Jogiareportedlysubmitted an audition tape for the titular role inAladdin.
The part proceed to Mena Massoud .
14.Dev Patel wasreportedlyconsidered to play Aladdin.
15.Riz Ahmed was alsoreportedlyone of the actors Disney considered for the role of Aladdin early on.
16.Tara Sutaria — who starred onOye JassieandThe Suite Life of Karan & Kabir,Disney India’s adaptations ofJessieandThe Suite Life of Zack & Cody— came close to playing Jasmine.
She toldIn.com , " I was actually guess to do another film with Will Smith a year before we startedStudent of the Year 2 in London . I was do work on this filmAladdin , which is , in fact , free a hebdomad afterSOTY . So , I was meant to play Jasmine in that film . We would have worked together on that film , and it is so dry that I did n’t end up doing that moving picture but I am doing this , and he in reality came here and we end up work on this . "
The part went to Naomi Scott .
17.And finally, Little Mix member Jade Thirlwall tried out for Jasmine inAladdin, but it “wasn’t meant to be.”
She toldCapital Breakfast , " I auditioned in [ director ] Guy Ritchie ’s living way . I had to sing ' A Whole New World ' for him , which was very bizarre . … I was absolutely bricking it , I was so flighty … just standing there like , ' You alright , Guy ? Gon na sing for you . ' "
