Following Harry Styles’ abrupt exit from Disney’s upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid, the film has finally found his replacement. Jonah Hauer-King has joined the cast as Ariel’s royal love interest, Prince Eric.
Up and coming actor Hauer-King’s film credits include A Dog’s Way Home and The Song Of Names. He is also set to appear in Blumhouse Productions’ Once Upon A Time In Staten Island, which also stars Naomi Watts, Frank Grillo and Bobby Cannavale.
Hauer-King has also starred in TV projects like BBC One’s Howards End, Little Women and World On Fire, and upcoming television film Agatha And The Curse Of Ishtar.
The actor scored the Little Mermaid role following two screen tests, one of which was with director Rob Marshall. He beat out Krypton‘s Cameron Cuffe for the role.
Hauer-King joins a cast made up of Halle Bailey as Ariel, Jacob Tremlay (Room, Wonder) as Ariel’s fish friend Flounder, Awkwafina (Ocean’s 8, Crazy Rich Asians) as seagull Scuttle, Melissa McCarthy (Ghostbusters, Bridesmaids) as villain Ursula and Javier Bardem (No Country For Old Men, Skyfall) as King Triton.
Disney’s original animated version of The Little Mermaid, which was released in 1989, follows the story of Ariel, a red-headed mermaid who wishes to be human after falling in love with Prince Eric. She makes a deal with Ursula the sea witch, and trades her voice for legs so that she can live on the shore and gain Eric’s love. The film is loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale.
The live-action remake, which doesn’t yet have a release date, is being directed by Rob Marshall from a script by Jane Goldman and David Magee.
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