Halle Bailey found starring in The Little Mermaid to be a "beautiful experience".
The 26-year-old actress played Ariel in the 2023 live-action movie, which was loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's 1837 fairy tale, and Halle has now reflected on the experience, admitting that it taught her a lot of valuable lessons.
She told The Independent: "[It was] a beautiful experience for me – and I feel like it taught me to listen to myself and the good voices inside. I learnt how to block out the noise."
Halle encountered some racist abuse after being cast as Ariel in the movie. However, the actress found her own way of coping with the "noise".
She said: "How do I explain it … It was actually freeing to be in the middle of this conversation where so many different opinions were coming in, and they were so opposite from one another."
Halle likened the situation to "an experiment".
She explained: "I felt like I was watching myself inside a cup, seeing how people react to it."
Halle finds that immersing herself in nature can help her to contextualise her career.
The actress shared: "I love feeling small, realising that the world is so big and beautiful and I’m just a tiny, tiny part of it. The fact I’m here is a blessing, and I’m grateful [to be doing music and acting], but at the same time, this is not what matters in life. What matters is keeping our feet on the ground, and holding the people we love."
Meanwhile, Halle previously claimed that success has made her "way stronger".
The actress described appearing in The Little Mermaid as an "overwhelmingly beautiful" experience.
Halle - who previously starred in the TV sitcom Grown-ish - told Variety: "This is a whole new world!
"Mermaid was really my first big film, and it was interesting, because going into something that means so much to so many people for my first project was very overwhelming - but overwhelmingly beautiful."
Halle feels she's grown from the experience of making the movie.
The actress - who first found fame as a musician, when she posted videos on YouTube alongside her sister Chloe - said: "When I wrapped, I felt such freedom and I was so proud of myself.
"I stumbled a bit along the way, but in the end, I came out way stronger."
Halle added: "Ariel taught me a lot about myself."
