‘Little Mermaid’ director addresses ‘skin tone agenda’: ‘All were welcome’

Little Mermaid’s director finally addresses the looming controversy surrounding the decision to cast Halle Bailey as Ariel.

The director, Rob Marshall believes the production team looked at all ethnicities equally during the casting call and only looked for someone with the ability to “exude a great deal of dire and joy”.

According to People magazine, their only demand was finding an “incredibly strong, passionate, beautiful, smart, clever,” actor for the role.

During the course of the interview, Marshall also defended his casting choice and explained how “That voice is something that is so signature and so ethereal and so beautiful that it captures the heart of Eric, and he looks for her for the entire film,” hence Bailey was the obvious choice.

During a prior interview with EW Marshall also addressed the reaction his casting choice yielded and claimed, “I wasn't anticipating that because, in a way, I felt like we've moved so far past that kind of thing. But then you realize, in a way we haven't. It was very moving to me to see how important this kind of casting is for the world.”