Why Harry Styles Rejected Prince Eric Role In 'The Little Mermaid'

Harry Styles made headlines in 2019 when it was rumored he would be playing Prince Eric in the live-action The Little Mermaid and then swiftly revealed he had turned the role down. At the time, Harry said his reason was to focus on music, but it turns out there was more to his decision.

The Little Mermaid director Rob Marshall talked about meeting with Harry in a new interview with Entertainment Weekly on Tuesday, April 4th. “We met with him. He was lovely. What a wonderful guy,” Marshall said of Styles. “But at the end of the day, he really felt like he wanted to go off and do the movies that he ended up doing, which were sort of darker.”

Marshall continued, “For a lot of young musical people like Harry, you’re trying to carve your way and you don’t wanna be seen as a singer, necessarily. That’s why he was really looking to do something not in the musical genre, to really stretch himself. It was really a fun idea to play with, but in the end, I always think things happen for a reason. I’m so happy to have two young, new people in the film.” While he turned down The Little Mermaid, Styles went on to star in Olivia Wilde's psychological thriller Don't Worry Darling and the queer 1950s drama My Policeman.

Newcomer Jonah Hauer-King will star in the role of Prince Eric opposite Halle Bailey's Ariel when it splashes into theaters on May 26th. Melissa McCarthy (Ursula), Javier Bardem (King Triton), and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Le Chef Louis) are also in the star-studded cast.