After Halle Bailey’s The Little Mermaid, Never Have I Ever Star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Wants Rapunzel Role: “Why can’t Rapunzel be a South Asian girl?”
It is a dream for an actor to play a Disney character. The Never Have I Ever actor Maitreyi Ramakrishnan confessed her dream project. The Indian-origin actor’s dream project involves the portrayal of the Disney princess Rapunzel. The 19-year-old actor rose to fame with the Mindy Kaling-directed Netflix romantic comedy Never Have I Ever. She was selected amongst 15,000 actors at a casting call and made her way to be the face of one of the widely watched shows on Netflix.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan
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The series revolves around Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, who struggles with the death of her father, her weird and complicated relationship with her mother, and most importantly-finding love. After the huge success of The Little Mermaid, actor Halle Bailey has come under the category of one of the most talented rising stars in Hollywood. Maitreyi was indirectly compared to Halle Bailey on the internet after her dream project came reply came into light.
Maitreyi Ramakrishnan Wants To Play Rapunzel
The Never Have I Ever fame actor Maitreyi Ramakrishnan is popularly known as Devi. The actor has become a household name after the Netflix romantic comedy became a huge hit. After the success of the much-appreciated Disney’s The Little Mermaid, actor Halle Bailey has become the talk of the town. During the promotion of the second season of the show Never Have I Ever, the Indian-origin actor appeared for an interview with CBS. Maitreyi Ramakrishnan spoke about many things ranging from the show’s second season and her dream of playing the Disney princess Rapunzel. On being asked what her next dream project looks like, the actor mentioned-
“You know what’d be really cool? I’ve been saying this and I’ve been seeing other people saying this. I think Rapunzel should be a South Asian girl. Because hear me out, no one knows what it feels like to be trapped in your room, not able to go out because your mother is telling you no, without giving you an actual proper reason like brown girls do. It’s true. That would be like a dream role for me.”
Halle Bailey On Being Racially Abused For The Little Mermaid
Actor Halle Bailey is the talk of the town after the humongous success of her Disney movie The Little Mermaid. The rising star of Hollywood was racially abused for playing the titular character of The Little Mermaid. During an interview with the media outlet The Face, the 23-year-old actor broke her silence on being racially discriminated against by racist trolls online. She said-
“As a black person, you just expect it and it’s not really a shock anymore. When the negative comments started, I was shocked, because it wasn’t something I really anticipated – at least not on that scale.”
She even confessed that Beyonce has been racially abused too and refrains from reading the comments on her social media handles. Halle Bailey said-
“As a Black person, you just expect it and it’s not really a shock anymore. When [Chlöe and I] first signed to Parkwood, [Beyoncé] was always like: ’I never read my comments. Don’t ever read the comments.’ Honestly, when the teaser came out, I was at the D23 Expo and I was so happy. I didn’t see any of the negativity.”
During an interview with the media outlet People, director Rob Marshall clearly mentioned he had no objective behind casting Halle Bailey for the role of the Little Mermaid. He stated-
“We just were looking for the best actor for the role, period. The end.”
He further added-
“We saw everybody and every ethnicity. The goal was to find someone who can be] incredibly strong, passionate, beautiful, smart, clever [and with] a great deal of fire and joy. That voice is something that is so significant and so ethereal and so beautiful that it captures the heart of Eric and he looks for her for the entire film.”
The Little Mermaid is currently running in the theatres and has gone on to make more than $326 million at the box office worldwide.
Source: CBS
