After a hectic few days back in August, we finally learned that despite all those reports saying otherwise, teen-heartthrob Harry Styles will not be a part of The Little Mermaid.
While numerous outlets claimed that the former One Direction singer would be playing Ariel’s love interest, The Wrap finally set the record straight last month, telling us that Styles had actually “respectfully declined” the role. That’s fair enough, but it does beg the question of why he didn’t want to get involved.
After all, Styles has shown an interest in furthering his acting career in recent years and this would’ve been a great gig for the pop star to take on. It turns out, though, that his music is still the most important thing to him. Speaking in a recent interview, Harry explained the following about his close brush with The Little Mermaid.
“It was discussed,” he says of the project, before quickly changing gears. “I want to put music out and focus on that for a while. But everyone involved in it was amazing, so I think it’s going to be great. I’ll enjoy watching it, I’m sure.”
While we would’ve been more than happy to see Styles in the role, his reasoning for turning it down is sound. And besides, it’s not like the rest of the cast isn’t impressive without him. We’ve got Halle Bailey (best known for her work on Grown-ish) taking on the role of Ariel, while Melissa McCarthy is being eyed to play Ursula. Meanwhile, Jacob Tremblay and Awkwafina are in talks to voice Flounder and Scuttle, respectively.
The Little Mermaid is set to begin production in January 2020, and with Rob Marshall attached to direct, it’s looking to be another big hit for the House of Mouse. Even without the involvement of Harry Styles.
But tell us, what do you make of this? Would you have wanted to see the former One Direction singer show up? As always, leave a comment down below.