Ever since news hit the web that Disney’s making a live-action remake of the animated classic The Little Mermaid, there has been one main question on everyone’s mind. And that is — who will play Ariel and Prince Eric?
Well guys, it was recently announced that Grown-ish actress Halle Bailey has been cast as the iconic mermaid! But what about the prince, you ask? Well, you guys might want to brace yourselves because according to Deadline, Cameron Cuffe and Jonah Hauer-King both tested for the role on September 23, 2019. For those of you who forgot, Cameron starred in the SyFy series Krypton. As for Jonah, he appeared in the shows Little Women and World On Fire.
Graham Phillips, who appeared as Prince Eric in ABC’s live rendition of The Little Mermaid revealed he was definitely interested in playing the prince in the upcoming flick.
“I’m sort of seeing this as my audition for the movie role,” he told Entertainment Tonight. “So, we’ll see how it goes.”
The Hollywood Reporter reported back in July that Harry Styles was in early negotiations for the part. OMG. That would seriously a dream come true! But Variety reported a few weeks later that the One Direction singer had unfortunately turned down the role.
“Harry made the decision to move on amicably.” sources told them. “The studio has already begun looking at others for the part and a decision should come shortly.”
The “Sign of the Times” crooner later opened up to The Face Magazine about why he decided not to play Prince Eric.
“I want to put music out and focus on that for a while,” he said. “But everyone involved in it was amazing, so I think it’s going to be great. I’ll enjoy watching it, I’m sure.”
He also told Capital Breakfast, “I had a meeting with Rob Marshall the director, who is the most wonderful man, he’s great, and it was just honestly a few things and it just wasn’t… it’s going to be an amazing film. They shoot for so long, and I want to tour next year, maybe, potentially… haven’t announced that yet.”
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina actor Gavin Leatherwood sent the internet into a frenzy when a fan suggested he audition for the role on Twitter and he replied, “Maybe I already have.”
Maybe I already have 😳
— Gavin Leatherwood (@gtleatherwood) August 15, 2019
Fans also noticed that the actor followed Disney on Instagram and liked a ton of pictures of the cartoon character a few weeks later! Hmmm, is he trying to tell us something? And when 13 Reasons Why star Christian Navarro tweeted that he really wanted to play Prince Eric, Disney caught wind of it and asked him to audition!
“@Disney saw this, saw your support, and gave my team a call. They wanted to see what I could do. Tapes sent. Fingers crossed. Let’s make some history,” the actor shared on Twitter.
Idk what happened to the other tweet.
But! @disney saw this, saw your support, and gave my team a call. They wanted to see what I could do. Tapes sent. Fingers crossed. Let’s make some history. #iloveyou3000 #PrinceEric #TheLittleMermaid https://t.co/192ZTsfqyH— Christian Navarro (@ChristianLN0821) September 3, 2019
Asher Angel recently admitted to Entertainment Tonight that he had tried out for the part too, but he wasn’t sure if he had landed the role or not.
“I’ve auditioned. I went in for it,” he said. “It [would] mean so much to me. I started off doing musical theater. One of my first ever shows, I was Flounder. It was really cute. There’s video everywhere, if you guys want to look it up. I would love to do the live action, of course. There’s so many amazing people in it that I would love to work with.”
And when the outlet caught up with him at Variety‘s Power of Young Hollywood event a few weeks later, they asked him if he ended up getting the role. And his response was pretty shady, if you ask us.
“No. I don’t know. Who knows,” he said. “I don’t want to spoil anything.”
“When I was Flounder [as a kid], I was dying to be Prince Eric, but I was too young. Now I’m at the age where I’m able to be Prince Eric, and that would just be a dream come true,” he added.
The Andi Mack star even posed for a picture with Halle at the event, who we all know is starring as Ariel in the upcoming flick! OMG. Could this be our new Prince Eric and Princess Ariel?!

Rumors have been circulating that Wonder star Jacob Tremblay may play Flounder in the upcoming flick, but when Jimmy Fallon asked the actor about the speculation, he joked that he’s actually in talks to play Prince Eric too.
“My people have told me that it’s down to me and Harry Styles for the role of Prince Eric,” he told the talk show host. “I know Harry Styles is a good looking dude and he’s got some talent, but I don’t know if he can bring the acting chops and singing chops that I can bring to the table.”
There’s also been a few rumors that Disney’s considering Noah Centineo to play Prince Eric, and we’re seriously freaking out. We mean, not only are all of these guys amazing actors, but they’re also totally swoon-worthy, so we know that they’d all make perfect princes. But unfortunately, until Disney announces anything, it’s all just speculation. That’s why we went ahead and came up with a bunch of other possibilities, you know, just for fun! And we would love to hear your thoughts on the matter.
Scroll through our gallery to imagine all of your favorite celebrities as Prince Eric. Then, vote on which actor you think would make the best prince.
Love J-14? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for fun, exclusive videos with your favorite stars.