Halle Bailey Recalls The ‘Agony’ Of Being Apart From Her Sister Chlöe While Filming ‘The Little Mermaid’

For much of her life, singer and actress Halle Bailey has worked creatively alongside her older sister Chlöe. From making YouTube videos, to getting signed to Beyoncé’s Parkwood Entertainment label as Chloe x Halle, to acting on Freeform’s hit TV series, Grown-ish, the two have been a dynamic duo.

Over the past two years, the two have embarked on separate endeavors. They are both working on solo music and movies of their own. In 2019, Halle was announced to play Ariel in the live adaptation of Disney’s The Little Mermaid. Production was often delayed, but took place during late 2020 and early into 2021. When the film wrapped last summer, Halle immediately went to film her parts for a remake of The Color Purple, in which she will play Nettie.

The Color Purple contains darker themes than The Little Mermaid, however, Halle revealed to Variety that while filming The Color Purple, she drew from the pain of being in London filming The Little Mermaid, and not being able to see Chlöe, who was in the US for much of that time.

“She couldn’t visit me; everything was on lockdown,” Halle said, “and it was that agony, that pain of being pulled away from something that’s like your arm, so I was pulling from that.”

The Little Mermaid will arrive to theaters on May 23, 2023 and The Color Purple will premiere on December 20, 2023.

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