Representation matters. Seeing someone who looks like you is a powerful motivator in this world. You think if they can do it, so can I. Halle Bailey knows this all too well. It is one of the many reasons she is so honored to be portraying Ariel in the new live-action version of The Little Mermaid .
She took to Instagram to share further proof of this. While she was at a mentoring event at Walt Disney World, she got to meet a very special young fan named Mila Rose, who embraced Halle and was speechless. Mila would not let go. Halle was clearly touched by this.
In the video, we see Mila wrap her legs and arms around Halle. She puts her little head on Halle’s shoulders. Viewers can hear Halle telling her positive affirmations.
"You're so pretty,” Halle says. “You're so beautiful and sweet."
For her part, Mila does not say anything. Perhaps she is too starstruck to speak. Someone off-camera, presumably a parental-type figure, tells Halle that she is Mila's favorite character. They also muse that "she won't let go." Mila’s head does pop up when asked if she wants to take a picture.
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Halle has spoken many times about what this role means to her, and this is another example of that.
"I know what it would have meant to me as a little girl to have been able to see a black Ariel when I was younger," she said in a Q&A on YouTube in September 2022. "If I would have seen that, it would have changed my whole outlook on life."
To see this adorable interaction firsthand, watch this video.
