![\"Halle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/482c1cb7-272b-48ca-9de4-13e804de0460.jpg\")
<\/p>\n\nAs her new romantic comedy hits screens, the singer and actor reveals why she loves being a voice for representation in film industry\n<\/p>\n
She\u2019s lived a lot of life for someone in their mid-twenties. Bailey was 13 when she and her sister Chloe were signed to Beyonc\u00e9\u2019s music label; 17 when they released their debut album The Kids Are Alright as Chloe x Halle; and 18 when that album earned two Grammy nominations.<\/p>\n
She wasn\u2019t yet 20 before their second, the slinky and self-assured Ungodly Hour, earned three more. That same year Bailey was announced as marine life princess Ariel in Disney\u2019s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid: the racist backlash to her casting would have aged anyone in her position at least 10 years.<\/p>\n
People often think she\u2019s younger. Her doe eyes suggest as much \u2013 big pools of emotion primed for expressing childlike (or fishlike) wonder on screen. But it\u2019s true that she carries herself with the composure of someone born much earlier than the millennium.<\/p>\n
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Halle Bailey starred in Disney’s live-action remake of ‘The Little Mermaid’<\/p>\n
Bailey recalls being six years old and getting chills the first time she listened to Billie Holiday\u2019s Lady in Satin. An old soul indeed; a more spiritual person might say she\u2019s on her fifth life.<\/p>\n
It has taken a while for public perception to catch up with her actual age. \u201cThis is the first time where I am playing a grown version of myself,\u201d says Bailey of her new film You, Me & Tuscany. \u201cThis feels like the first time where I\u2019m stepping into my womanhood. It felt cool because it reflected me now. You know, I have a baby. I do feel like I\u2019m an official adult woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
None of this is to say that You, Me & Tuscany is some self-serious drama. True to its whimsical title, the film is a romcom romp set in the rolling hills of Italy. Anna-from-Atlanta crashes at an empty Italian villa by posing as the owner\u2019s fiancee \u2013 only to fall for his dashing cousin, played by British actor Rege-Jean Page. Pasta is eaten, wine is drunk and R&B love songs are sung a cappella.<\/p>\n
Speaking of age, I say, is this one of those controversial age-gap relationships? At 38, Page is a good 12 years older than Bailey. \u201cYeah, he\u2019s old,\u201d she says with a laugh, admitting that some of her Gen Z slang was lost on the Bridgerton star.<\/p>\n
Between slo-mo shots of Page stripping off a wet button-up shirt and an enemies-to-lovers character arc based around a case of mistaken identity, the film is in many ways a by-the-numbers romcom. But in another more important way, it\u2019s a rarity: a big, studio-backed theatrical release with two black leads.<\/p>\n
That fact isn\u2019t lost on Bailey. \u201cIt\u2019s weird that it is so rare,\u201d she says. \u201cI feel honoured that I\u2019m able to show other young black girls and women and men that we deserve to see ourselves on screen. It\u2019s a theme that\u2019s been very prominent in the projects that I choose, or at least I try to choose.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt like I was watching myself inside a cup<\/p>\n
The most obvious being The Little Mermaid. Looking back on it now, three years after the film\u2019s release, Bailey says it was \u201ca beautiful experience for me \u2013 and I feel like it taught me to listen to myself and the good voices inside. I learnt how to block out the noise\u201d.<\/p>\n
Within that very diplomatic answer is an acknowledgement of the rough seas she weathered along the way as Ariel \u2013 the \u201cnoise\u201d of racists on the internet who took umbrage at a black actor playing the role.<\/p>\n
Bailey found her own way of dealing with it. \u201cIt was actually freeing to be in the middle of this conversation where so many different opinions were coming in, and they were so opposite from one another,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
The actress took to seeing the whole thing \u201clike an experiment\u201d. She holds her hand in front of her face, palm up, peering at something tiny and imaginary on top of it. \u201cI felt like I was watching myself inside a cup, seeing how people react to it.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Beyonc\u00e9](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/8595e0a1-6e02-4f13-9a21-de7cb3a4702f.jpg\")
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Beyonc\u00e9 has had a big influence on Halle Bailey’s career. Photo: PA<\/p>\n
There it is again, a level-headedness that belies not only her young age, but also her exposure to fame at that young age.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrowing up in the industry can really develop your sense of self, and for me, it keeps me grounded in a way,\u201d she says. \u201cI know for some people it\u2019s the opposite but I just always think to myself, \u2018None of this is real.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
To that end, Bailey\u2019s favourite thing to do is to immerse herself in nature. \u201cI love feeling small, realising that the world is so big and beautiful and I\u2019m just a tiny, tiny part of it. The fact I\u2019m here is a blessing, and I\u2019m grateful [to be doing music and acting], but at the same time, this is not what matters in life. What matters is keeping our feet on the ground, and holding the people we love.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, it was surely nice to feel supported by Disney amid the #NotMyAriel controversy. It\u2019s more than some of her peers can say \u2013 like John Boyega or Rachel Zegler, who received similar backlash for their roles in Star Wars and Snow White, respectively. Zegler and Bailey connected to offer support to one another. \u201cZendaya also reached out, and Ariana Grande was so nice,\u201d Bailey adds.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs women, I think we form a little protective bubble around each other, especially when we see a peer going through lots of opinions. Rachel was definitely one of those people. I love her,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all understand what a vulnerable place it is to be, and at the end of the day, we are young women, we\u2019re self-conscious, we\u2019re insecure. I\u2019m insecure at times, and sometimes the opinions of people can muddy your own thoughts. So it\u2019s special to have a community who\u2019s there to say, \u2018You\u2019re amazing. We\u2019re here for you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The Little Mermaid was more good than bad, she insists. Playing Ariel was \u201cvery impactful to the little girl in me… also I have a son, so for him to see that is really cool. Whenever he sees a mermaid, he goes \u2018Mommy, mommy!\u2019\u201d At playgrounds, kids will come up to Bailey and ask where her tail is.<\/p>\n
The experience also led her to her sixth Grammy nomination \u2013 this time for Best R&B song with Angel, her solo debut written in the aftermath of those nine months filming in London. \u201cIt was this mantra to myself to stay up, and stay confident, and be reminded that there are amazing things about you,\u201d she says. \u201cEverybody needs positive affirmations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bailey is big on guided meditation, something she confesses with a knowing laugh. \u201cWhen I go to sleep, I put on these positive phrases: \u2018I am love. I am good.\u2019 I feel like we need these reminders when bad thoughts come our way.\u201d Whatever it is, it\u2019s working. Outside the hotel room, a maelstrom of publicists rages on; inside with Bailey, it\u2019s pure calm.<\/p>\n
The same year that Bailey put out a solo album, so too did her sister Chloe. The siblings \u2013 once joined at the hip, cheek-to-cheek \u2013 went their separate ways, musically at least.<\/p>\n
![\"Halle](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/da3d91d9-8d3d-4269-aef1-475ae404abfe.jpg\")
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Halle Bailey (left) and her sister Chloe Bailey at a private screening of ‘You, Me & Tuscany’ in Los Angeles. Photo: Getty<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually been really good for us,\u201d Bailey says. \u201cI do miss living together, being back in our home studio making stuff, but it\u2019s also cool when you grow up and live your own lives. I love my sister and I\u2019ll make music with her until the end of time. That\u2019s my home and where I feel my safest.\u201d Chloe is loving being an auntie, she says.<\/p>\n
And as for aunties-in-spirit, Beyonc\u00e9 is very much still a presence in both their lives. It was the pop star who kickstarted their careers almost 15 years ago after hearing their cover of Pretty Hurts on YouTube, where their following has ticked up to almost two million, but their channel\u2019s bio remains the same: \u201cJust two girls who love making music in our living room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having someone like Beyonc\u00e9 in their corner was incredible, she says. \u201cIt makes you feel confident in your ideas because she\u2019s acknowledging you.\u201d Crucially, she was never overbearing. \u201cShe just let us be,\u201d Bailey says. \u201cShe\u2019s a very genuine human being \u2013 a nice, soft voice who will give us advice when we need it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Up next for Bailey is an untitled musical comedy with Jesse Eisenberg and Paul Giammatti, while off the slate is Golden, the Pharrell Williams biopic she shot together with the musician, Kelvin Harrison Jr, Da\u2019Vine Joy Randolph and Brian Tyree Henry. The film was unceremoniously canned last year, a mutual decision made by the producers.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really excited for it, and I don\u2019t know what happened, but I\u2019m just happy I even got to spend that time shooting in Virginia. It was insightful to watch a legend like Pharrell up close, so that experience alone was enough for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
These days, Bailey adds, picking projects isn\u2019t just about her: it\u2019s about her son, too. \u201cI just want to make him proud. I want to do good. I want to be a good mommy.\u201d<\/p>\n
You, Me & Tuscany is in cinemas from April 10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As her new romantic comedy hits screens, the singer and actor reveals why she loves being a voice…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[18952,9618,93,61,60],"class_list":{"0":"post-384648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-beyonce","9":"tag-disney","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}