Wed, 26 April 2023 at 8:44 pm

Halle Bailey Shares What 'Part of Your World' & Playing Ariel Mean to Her

Halle Bailey‘s full version of “Part of Your World” was released on Wednesday (April 26).

After it’s release, the 23-year-old opened up in a new interview that day about what the song means to her, and she also dished on playing Ariel.

See what Halle shared inside…

“The song ‘Part of Your World’ means so so much to me. I mean ever since I was a little girl, this movie in general has meant so much to a lot of us, but this song has really stuck with me since I was small,” Halle told Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1. “I mean every time I hear [original voice of Ariel] Jodi Benson sing it, the nostalgia that I get is just amazing and it fills me up with so much joy. I get goosebumps all over so I was very excited to do my own rendition of this song and try my very best to give the song justice, you know, because it’s an amazing work of art.”

“I took inspiration from the original, really based off of the amazing base that we had of the original already. I mean, Jodi Benson is an iconic singer and she’s just such a lovely person inside and out as well,” she continued. “So when you are redoing a song that’s already great, you just have to really try your best to honor the original, as well as not be afraid to make it your own. So that’s truly what I tried to do.”

If you somehow missed it, check out the full version of Halle‘s “Part of Your World,” along with new character posters!

Halle also shared with Zane Lowe how Ariel made her want to get in the water at a young age and learn how to swim.

“Playing Ariel means the absolute world to me. I mean, ever since I was a little girl, this movie has meant so very much to me. Ariel is a very big part of the reason why I even wanted to get in the water being a little girl and learn how to swim,” Halle said. “And she’s a very big part of who I am as an individual and learning, especially venturing into womanhood, what it means to want something greater and bigger for yourself and not being afraid to go after your passions and dreams.”

“I am feeling so, so good about this film being close to the release now. I’m really excited. I’m a little bit nervous just because this has been so long in the making. I mean, I auditioned for this film when I was 18 and I turned 23 this year,” the actress and singer continued. “So it’s been a long wait and the suspense has been killing me. But now that it’s finally here, I’m like, whoa, I can’t believe it. And it’s a very, very big pinch me moment. I’m so excited. And I just can’t wait for people to see what we did to this film.”

If you didn’t see, find out how director Rob Marshall reacted to Halle‘s first audition, where she also sang the iconic song.

RELATED: