Halle Bailey tears up while revealing her ‘Little Mermaid’ doll: ‘This means so much to me’
One of Halle Bailey's childhood dreams has come true.
Bailey, 22, unveiled her new "Little Mermaid" doll on March 6, which has the same mole that Bailey has on her face.
"I have something really exciting to reveal to you all. I am going to cry," the "Little Mermaid" actor says before unveiling the doll in a video she shared on Twitter and Instagram. "This is the new 'The Little Mermaid' doll. I am literally choking up because this means so much to me and to have one that looks like me, that is my favorite Disney character, is very surreal.
"And look, she even has my mole," Bailey continues, pointing to the doll's mole before pointing to her own. "See!"
Bailey expressed excitement when showing fans that the doll also had the same hairstyle as her, and she said she was "so stunned" by the toy's appearance that she joked she might steal it, "take it home and hide it forever."
Bailey captioned the cute clip, "Omg the little girl in me is pinching herself right now ..i have my own Little Mermaid Ariel doll !!! I can’t believe how much she captures my version of this iconic character brb gonna go cry now …"
On Instagram, Bailey's sister Chloe commented, "IM BUYING 100 OF THEM!!!"
The official IG account of Barbie said, "Well deserved ????."
Rapper Coi Leray added, "?????????????????????????????????? congratulations you are so inspiring??????????."
And "West Side Story" actor Rachel Zegler said, "baby girl! what dreams are made of."
In September 2022, fans saw the first teaser trailer of Disney's highly-anticipated live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid.”
The clip showed Bailey singing her character Ariel's hit song "Part Of Your World," which was originally made popular by Jodi Benson in the 1989 animated film.
In a February interview with "The Face," Bailey opened up about the racist backlash she received for her casting in the movie and said that as a Black woman, she expected it to happen.
She also talked about the backlash during a September Q&A session with her fans on her YouTube channel, where she leaned into optimism by saying she's happy that her being cast in the movie has sparked a conversation on race.
“Today, with all of the kind of commentary and people’s opinions going on, it just reminds me to be, number one, grounded and grateful that I have this opportunity, and the fact that it’s sparking such a discussion like this for all of us,” she said in the video. “I know what it would have meant to me as a little girl to have been able to see a Black Ariel when I was younger. If I would have seen that, it would have changed my whole outlook on life.”
This article was originally published on TODAY.com