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Disney has a new princess.
Well, a new actor playing an existing princess, to be precise.
Halle Bailey has been announced as Ariel in Disney’s latest live-action remake, The Little Mermaid.
She’s probably best known as half of duo Chloe x Halle, has a lot of celeb fans and can count Beyonce as a mentor.
So what do you need to know about the 19-year-old actress and singer?
She’s one half of singing sisters Chloe x Halle
Halle is the younger sibling in the R&B duo – they started posting songs to YouTube as teenagers. Chloe is 21.
Originally from Atlanta in the US, they moved to LA with their family at around the same time they started posting their songs.
They performed at the 2019 Super Bowl pre-game show and were nominated for two Grammys this year, for best new artist and best urban contemporary album.
And the sisters have connections with Disney already – their song Warrior was on the soundtrack for Ava DuVernay’s 2018 Disney film A Wrinkle in Time.
She’s got Beyonce to thank for a lot
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Chloe and Halle / Twitter
Chloe x Halle signed to Beyonce’s record label in 2015
Beyonce is a bit of a fairy godmother to Halle and Chloe.
After they posted a Beyonce cover to YouTube, they were among the first signings to her record label Parkwood Entertainment.
They featured in Beyonce’s video for the song All Night and have supported her on some of the dates of her world tours.
As a three-year-old, Chloe played a young Beyonce in the 2003 film The Fighting Temptations.
And Halle will follow in Bey’s footsteps as a Disney actor – as Queen B voices Nala in the upcoming Lion King remake.
She’s got a lot of celebrity fans
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Chloe x Halle with Katy Perry at an awards ceremony in April
Celebs have been flocking to congratulate Halle for landing the role of Ariel.
Ariana Grande wrote on Instagram: “I can’t express how happy and excited I am at all.”
Other stars who’ve commented on Halle’s Instagram post congratulating her include Willow Smith, Chrissy Teigen, Jordin Sparks and Gigi Hadid.
And almost-namesake Halle Berry had a simple message: “Halles get it DONE.”
She’s an actor as well as a singer
Halle and Chloe star in Black-ish spin-off Grown-ish.
They play athletic twins Jazlyn and Skylar Foster, who go to college with Yara Shahidi’s character Zoey Johnson.
Yara was full of praise for Halle’s new role – she posted on Instagram: “You have expanded the world of powerful princesses in so many ways.”
She’s a self-taught musician
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Chloe and Halle wrote and produced their first album The Kids Are Alright
Halle told Time magazine last year that her family moved from Atlanta to LA “on the dream of living out what we want to do”.
“We knew that being out here was definitely better for the music scene,” she said.
In the same interview, her sister Chloe said: “From 10 and eight we just wrote our own songs, and that’s how we learned.”
They learned instruments and songwriting through YouTube videos and online tutorials, thanks to their dad.
Chloe added: “Ever since we were little girls, our dad instilled in us the importance of not having to rely on anyone, and having a do-it-yourself attitude.”
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