‘The Little Mermaid’: See more Halle Bailey movies and TV shows

Halle Bailey stepped from the Chloe x Halle stage into the center of a Disney franchise, and the industry has kept her booked ever since. The transition from Grammy-nominated R&B to live-action leads has been swift and deliberate, with each new credit showing a performer comfortable carrying both melody and narrative weight. The move has also given audiences a clearer view of how she balances music, film, and the quieter work of building a long career.

Little Mermaid

Halle Bailey played Ariel in the 2023 live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid. The film ultimately grossed $569.6 million worldwide. Her performance drew the strongest notices in a mixed critical field; the movie sits at 67 percent on Rotten Tomatoes while audience scores ran higher. The picture reached television audiences in 2024. Director Rob Marshall had already stressed that Bailey earned the role on talent, citing her work in Chloe x Halle as proof she could handle the vocal and emotional demands. She met the racist backlash with the same restraint she brought to the set, focusing instead on the updated origin story the film gave Ariel. Public support came quickly from voices like Trevor Noah, who called out the discriminatory framing and reminded viewers that inclusive casting strengthens rather than dilutes familiar stories.

Recent Film Roles

Bailey followed the Disney release with two 2023 features that placed her inside established ensembles. She appeared as Young Nettie Harris in The Color Purple alongside Taraji P. Henson and the rest of the cast. She also played Annabelle Bascom in the independent drama The Line. Both turns earned NAACP Image Award recognition for the respective ensembles, giving Bailey her first awards attention outside music. The roles let her work in dramatic registers that differed from the musical fantasy of Ariel and showed directors she could disappear inside period settings or contemporary tension without leaning on her singing voice.

Solo Music Career

Bailey released her debut solo album, Love?… or Something Like It, on October 24, 2025. The project followed the Grammy-nominated single “Angel” in 2023 and a string of follow-up tracks that stretched through 2025. The move from duo to solo artist has not severed her connection to Chloe x Halle; the sisters have teased new joint material that they describe as more mature than earlier work. The solo record simply gave Bailey room to explore different songwriting perspectives while the duo remains an active creative lane.

2026 Rom-Com Lead

Bailey stars opposite Regé-Jean Page in the Will Packer-produced romantic comedy You, Me & Tuscany, which opened in theaters on April 10, 2026. The production filmed on location in Italy, and early promotion leaned on the on-screen chemistry between the leads and the postcard setting. The role marks her first major theatrical lead outside a musical or ensemble drama, placing her in a genre that rewards timing and light touch rather than vocal power. The project also arrived with the kind of studio push that signals studios see long-term commercial potential in her name above the title.

Voice Work and Animation

Bailey has begun expanding into voice performance. She contributed to the 2025 Robot Chicken special and is currently recording for the animated feature Groove Tails, which remains in production. The credits sit outside the live-action musical lane that first brought her wide attention, letting her test range in shorter comedic bursts and longer character arcs that rely entirely on vocal texture. Animation also offers scheduling flexibility between film shoots and music commitments.

Bailey’s path since The Little Mermaid has been defined by concrete credits rather than open-ended promises. She has moved from one high-profile musical to dramatic ensemble work, a solo album, a star vehicle in a mainstream comedy, and early voice credits, all while keeping the Chloe x Halle partnership alive. The pattern shows an artist who treats each lane as a skill to maintain rather than a phase to outgrow. Audiences now have a growing catalog to track, and the next projects will reveal how far she intends to stretch the multi-hyphenate label she has already earned.