Halle Bailey Ignored 'Little Mermaid' Naysayers: 'I Think About the People Who Lift Me Up' (Exclusive)
Despite racist backlash about her casting, the actress couldn't be more excited to be part of the Little Mermaid world
The original Little Mermaid hit theaters 11 years before Halle Bailey was born, but the Gen Z star says she still got an authentic millennial viewing experience.
"We had the VHS tape!" Bailey, 23, tells PEOPLE during an exclusive sit-down for this week's issue. "It was very old, but we loved it."
The star — who's the third child of four, including sister and bandmate Chloe Bailey, born to parents Doug and Courtney originally of Mableton, Georgia — says she had a very particular way of watching the hit animated movie back then.
"When I was a little girl, I wouldn't like any of the conflict to start," she says. "I'd watch maybe the first half, and then whenever it would get to the struggles, I'd start it over to watch all the happy parts."
Related:Halle Bailey on Her Fairy-Tale Romance with Rapper DDG: Young Love Is 'Transformative' (Exclusive)
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Years later, she still has a knack for blocking out the negative. Following the 2019 announcement that Bailey would play Princess Ariel in the live-action version of the film, racist backlash kicked up online from some who objected to the casting of a Black actress in a role originally animated as a White character, voiced by actress and singer Jodi Benson.
But Bailey has fast-forwarded past all of that drama. "I don't really think about the naysayers," she says. "I just think about the people that are positive and lift me up."
Her Princess Ariel predecessor is one of those people. "My goodness, Halle's interpretation of Ariel is absolutely beautiful," says Benson, 61, who still voices iterations of Ariel. "The casting has been done so perfectly. It's about the heart of the character."
Some of Bailey's biggest supporters are young girls of color. "It's exceptional to be able to see a figure that you look up to that also looks like your auntie or your sister," says Bailey, who credits Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard, Brandy in Cinderella and Anika Noni Rose in The Princess and the Frog for lighting her way.
"When I was able to see them, I felt like I was worthy," she adds. "Now that I'm on posters and inspiring these little girls that come up to me, it's very surreal. I just want to continue making them proud of me."
And just as important, Bailey is feeling proud of herself. "I genuinely hope that the people who do go see this movie love it and leave the theater feeling happy because we all really collectively worked so hard on it," she says. "I know for sure I'm proud of it."
For more on Halle Bailey's life and Little Mermaid transformation, pick up this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
The Little Mermaid swims into theaters May 26.
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