One of the biggest films that was just about to start production right when the pandemic happened is Disney’s live-action remake ofThe Little Mermaid. FilmmakerRob Marshall– the director ofChicagoandInto the WoodsandMary Poppins Returns– is in the director’s chair on the film, and fans are mighty excited to see/hearHamiltonalumDaveed Diggs’ take on the beloved crab Sebastian.
Which is why, when Collider’s own Christina Radish recently spoke with Diggs about Season 2 of his TNT seriesSnowpiercer, she asked about his work inThe Little Mermaid. As it turns out, Diggs revealed that he did more research for the role of Sebastian than he did for any other role of his career thus far – and for good reason:
“I worked harder on Sebastian probably than I have for any role in my life. It’s tricky. I wasn’t sure, and this is also true of Layton. I tend to say yes to things when I feel like I can do it, but I’m actually not sure I’m the smart choice or the person naturally who should be doing it. That’s true of Sebastian, for a lot of ways that are uncomfortable. I’m not of Caribbean descent, doing that kind of work and trying to immerse myself. I’ve spent a lot of time in Trinidad and I went to Jamaica to research, and I did a lot of voice work with Chris Walker and with the late Tony Hall, to attempt to get the voice right. But more than the voice, the thing about a dialect is that everybody’s voice is actually very different, so consistency is really more important than accuracy. Your speech pattern is based on culture, and that was the thing I didn’t wanna let down.”
Diggs continued, adding that his intense work doesn’t even hold a candle to what starHalle Bailey– who plays Ariel – is doing:
“I want somebody who is from Trinidad or from Jamaica, depending on where we landed with the role, to be able to see themselves in this, in some way. Even though maybe my voice doesn’t sound exactly right, I wanted to feel like somebody connected to it. I had so many friends growing up for whom Sebastian was the first time they had seen themselves represented in mainstream American culture. As flawed as that is, that’s still important. So, that role stressed me out quite a bit, but also is incredibly fun. Like I said, I did more research for that role, than I have for any part, ever, and I’m literally a crab. It seems crazy maybe, in hindsight. And the amount of lifting I’m doing in that is nothing compared to Halle [Bailey], or any of the like incredible performers who are really carrying that. I just sing a couple of cool songs and call it a day.”
While Diggs didn’t confirm or reveal much about how Sebastian will be portrayed in the film, he did have heavy praise for the animation teams at Disney and Pixar :
“[Being part ofThe Little Mermaidis] pretty cool. Working in the animation space is always pretty cool. I love that stuff. But something as big as Disney’sThe Little Mermaid– and I felt this onSoultoo, just because of Pixar, particularly for us from the Bay Area because it’s right there and it has this element of mystery about it – just to even get to be behind the scenes on those things is pretty wild. You get to hear a new song before it comes out and it’s amazing, and then you hear the performance of it by an actor you might not expect to be able to do that and that’s also amazing. There are so many cool surprises that I know and I’m just sitting on.”
The Little Mermaiddoesn’t yet have a firm release date, but it remains a highly anticipated film withMelissa McCarthyplaying Ursula,Javier Bardemplaying King Triton, andJacob TremblayandAwkwafinaas Flounder and Scuttle, respectively.
Here’s a full list ofevery upcoming Disney live-action remakecurrently in the works.
