Harry Styles was in talks as Prince Erik for the remake of “Arielle”: that’s why the casting didn’t work out

One can only imagine how Harry Styles fans would have freaked out if the pop superstar actually played a Disney prince. As we reported a while ago, and as director Rob Marshall has now confirmed, Styles was indeed being considered for the role of Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid remake. Marshall now revealed the opposite that he even met the musician and actor in person to talk about the role.

But as everyone knows, Prince Erik in “Arielle” is coming out now Jonah Hauer-King played. Why not Harry? Even when Harry Styles’ cancellation of the project became known, the star was said to have made the decision herself. Now Marshall went into detail about what prompted the Erik candidate to do this:

“We met. He was so sweet. What a wonderful person. But at the end of the day he decided to move on and make the movies he did, which were darker.

Harry Styles preferred other genres

Said film projects Harry Styles has completed in recent years, both of which will be released in 2022, include the queer drama “My Husband’s Lover” starring Emma Corrin and David Dawson, which you can watch by subscribing to Amazon Prime Video, and Psycho – Thriller “Don’t Worry Darling” starring Florence Pugh, Olivia Wilde and Chris Pine.

Rob Marshall explained in an interview with further that he understands very well the need of young, musical people like Harry Styles to want to go their own way and not always be seen as just a singer – but in “Arielle, the Mermaid” there is a lot of singing. Marshall explains that this is why Styles wanted to do something other than a musical to broaden his reach. “It was a really fun idea to play with, but at the end of the day I think everything happens for a reason. I’m so glad we have two young, new people in the movie.”

Those two young new characters are the aforementioned Jonah Hauer-King, who will play Prince Erik, and Halle Bailey, who will play the mermaid Ariel. The whole can be seen in cinemas from May 25, 2023 – and here’s the trailer for the “Arielle” live-action for you, where you can see the two stars in action: