As of May 26, The Little Mermaid live-action remake enters theaters. Reviews suggest it is similar to other live-action Disney reimaginings, for better or worse, but at least it provides lead Halle Bailey with a star-making turn. Appearing opposite her as Prince Eric is actor Jonah Hauer-King. Given that Hauer-King isn’t a household name like Harry Styles (who he snatched the role away from), fans are wondering how they can catch up with his career.
To begin with, the English entertainer began acting in 2014 in short films before appearing in his first major feature in the form of 2017 emotional drama The Last Photograph. Before his coming turn in The Little Mermaid, his biggest theatrical release in the United States was 2019 family adventure A Dog’s Way Home, and in his native UK Hauer-King has turned up in various TV productions. e.g. 2017’s Little Women miniseries. But what else does he have coming up?
Jonah Hauer-King’s upcoming projects
The next evolution of the 27-year-old’s career remains to be seen. According to his IMDb page, he has four projects currently in the works. These include short film Fabio D’Andrea: One Small Step, period romance A Beautiful Imperfection, and a guest role in Peacock’s upcoming The Tattooist of Auschwitz adaptation. Most notably, he’ll try his hand at a much tougher role than Eric by headlining indie thriller Rich Flu opposite Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
By the looks of things, then, Hauer-King’s most immediate post-Little Mermaid move is to return to less blockbuster-sized fare, however others believe he is destined for bigger things like Bailey. In a recent profile piece on the actor, British G suggests he will be “the next big movie guy,” and Hauer-King does not exactly dispute the notion. He indicates he’ll never play a Disney prince again and, while a break is in the cards, doing a long one is not seen as ideal.
“I mean I say that, but the thought of an extended break also feels really weird. The Little Mermaid has been a huge part of my life for four years, so it feels weird to let it go. But also quite liberating. Sad to see it go, but also very excited for what’s next.”
The Little Mermaid opened to a 71 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, dropping it somewhere in the middle of Disney’s live-action remakes in terms of Tomatometer rankings. It’s on course for a strong box office opening domestically, although enough said about its dire China projections the better.
