Recent live action remakes of familiar fairy tales have cast these classic stories with more empowering female leads. Earlier this year, Lily James chatted to i-D about Cinderella’s inner strength, and fierce feminist Emma Watson has signed on to play bookworm Belle in the upcoming Beauty and the Beast. Now, another outspoken young actress — Chloë Grace Moretz — will put her own spin on Hans Christian Anderson’s underwater adventure, The Little Mermaid.
“Here it is!!” the 18-year old actress wrote in an Instagram caption announcing her involvement with the project. “I’ve been waiting months to tell everyone how excited I am to take on this beautiful journey with Working Title, Universal, and a beautiful script by Richard Curtis. #TheLittleMermaid!!!! Here we go!!!”
Moretz is no stranger to kick ass princess roles (literally: she starred as an 11-year-old assassin in Kick Ass and voiced the lead of Studio Ghibli’s animated feature The Tale of the Princess Kaguya earlier this year). Speaking to i-D upon Princess Kaguya‘s release, Moretz opened up about feminism in film, fellow princess Watson’s HeForShe initiative, and the role major companies like Disney play in impacting body image. “When we get on a pedestal in front of the eyes of the world, it’s so easy to clam up and say what society wants us to say. I think it’s incredibly bold and strong to actually do what you feel is right,” she said.
Though The Little Mermaid‘s initial director, Sofia Coppola, is no longer attached to the project, we’re still stoked to see how Moretz will make the strong-willed Ariel her own.
Credits
Text Emily Manning
Image via Flickr