Jan. 6 (UPI) — Noma Dumezweni, who recently starred in HBO’s The Undoing, has joined the cast of Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid.
Dumezweni will be portraying a new character in the film who was not present in Disney’s classic 1989 animated version of The Little Mermaid.
The film stars Halle Bailey as lead Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as the villainous Ursula, Javier Bardem as King Triton, Jonah Hauer-King as Prince Eric, Daveed Diggs as Sebastian, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder and Awkwafina as Scuttle.
Rob Marshall is directing the film, based off a script by David Magee. The soundtrack will feature classic songs from the animated film along with new ones by original composer Alan Menken, with lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda.
McCarthy said in December on Watch What Happens Live that production on the project is scheduled to resume in January in London after it was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dumezweni also recently starred in Hulu’s Normal People and will next be seen in upcoming HBO series, Made For Love.