From when he was still a member of the boy band One Direction, Harry Styles possessed a charm that could make girls swoon over him. Ariel could have been one of those women but that is not happening in The Little Mermaid as the director reveals why the actor did not suit up as Prince Eric.
Disney is making yet another live-action adaptation of one of their classic stories from their very own Princesses with The Little Mermaid including the iconic Ariel, the mermaid who dreamed of being on land with the Prince she fell in love with.
Speaking of Prince, the cast of the movie and the various trailers confirm that Jonah Hauer-King joins the ranks of the live-action princes of Disney as Prince Eric despite the rumors that it was supposed to be Harry Styles who would suit up as the prince to make Ariel fall in love with.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the director of The Little Mermaid, Rob Marshall, revealed that Harry Styles was, indeed, in the talks to play Prince Eric and while the production was interested to have Styles in the movie, the actor, himself, deferred.
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Marshall said, "We met with him. He was lovely. What a wonderful guy. But at the end of the day, he really felt like he wanted to go off and do the movies that he ended up doing, which were sort of darker."
Currently, Harry Styles has been taking roles that have some darker theme like Don't Worry Darling and My Policeman.
To date, there is still no confirmation which path would the live-action movie would do but The Little Mermaid only has two options to follow: the tragic story of the fairy tale of Hans Christian Andersen or the happily ever after from the animated Disney movie in 1989.
No matter what the narrative would be, The Little Mermaid is sure to have Prince Eric as the human whom Ariel fell for after she saved him from drowning and he will do everything to find his savior and marry her.
See Jonah Hauer-King suit up as Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid on May 26, 2023.
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