Noma Dumezweni teases news of Disney’s live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid

Virgin Radio

21 May 2022, 16:36

But you're going to have to wait until June 2023.

Appearing on The Graham Norton Show With Waitrose this morning, British actress Noma Dumezweni let slip some news about Disney’s much anticipated, live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid.

What we already know is that Halle Bailey will portray Ariel, the mermaid princess who dreams of being a human, while comedian Melissa McCarthy is playing her evil aunt Ursula. There will be songs from the 1989 animated classic, as well as new tunes from original composer Alan Menken with lyrics by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. Javier Bardem is on board to play King Triton.

What we don't know yet is what character Noma - who in 2017 won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Hermione Granger in the original West End run of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - will be playing, though she let slip some new information when quizzed by Graham on the show.

"I'm not allowed to say who I'm playing yet," she said, "but I have filmed it and my character is a landlubber. It is going to be magical and I love [director] Rob Marshall. It's apparently going to be out in June 2023. It looks marvelous. Something I can say, I think, is about King Tritons daughters, of whom Ariel is one. I had that kumbaya thing in my heart on the first day of rehearsals meeting them. They're all so beautiful. The representation is wonderful. It's going to be incredible."

Noma is currently appearing in A Doll's House, Part 2 at London's Donmar Warehouse.

A sequel to the 1879 original, she plays writer Henrik Ibsen’s famous protagonist, Nora Helmer, 15 years after the original narrative concludes.

She said; "Lucas Hnath, our writer, has created a story of what happens because at the end of the original play. In that, Nora leaves the house, leaves the husband, leaves the children - basically leaves everything to find out who she is. Lucas' play starts with at knock on the door. Nora's back 15 years later. There's a little problem in that she needs to catch up with the family. She doesn't want to be there. They don't want her to be there. So that's where it kind of starts..."

A Doll's House, Part 2 runs from June 10th to August 6th at the Donmar Warehouse, London.

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