HALLEBAILEY “I was blown away by her. I was so impressed that she deals with everything with such graciousness and elegance. The more I worked with her, the more I realised how incredible she is and how born she was for this role.”- Jonah Hauer-King
“She was the first person [to audition]. We said would you like to sing or read first and she said, “Well, I like to sing.” So she sang ‘Part of Your World’. I remember she shut her eyes and started to sing the song. By the end of the song I was in tears. I thought this is so moving. She’s so deeply connected to what she’s singing about and what she’s feeling. I remember turning to [John DeLuca] and saying “Have we found Ariel? This is the first person [we’ve seen].” We saw hundreds and hundreds of girls after that because we really needed to make sure this was the one. But she set the bar so high. With all of it. She had the incredible passion and stength but she also had vulnerability. A sort of other-worldliness, ethereal feel and look. And naive. She was only 18 when she first auditioned for us. It was the full package. She came back [to audition] many times. We did a screen test but ultimately we didn’t have to choose. She claimed the role.“ - Rob Marshall
