The Little Mermaid live-action film has been searching high and low for the perfect Prince Eric after Harry Styles passed on the role earlier this year, and they have now confirmed that British actor Jonah Hauer-King has been cast as Ariel's love interest. According to Deadline, it was a close race between Jonah and Krypton actor Cameron Cuffe for the much-coveted role. If Jonah looks familiar, you might recognise the 24-year-old from the 2017 BBC adaptation of Little Women, or from the recent hit show, World on Fire, where Jonah played Harry.
Jonah played Harry in World on Fire
In the film, Prince Eric is the human royal that Ariel falls madly in love with, even giving her voice to a sea witch for the chance to spend just three days with legs so that she has a chance to spend time with him. Jonah has joined a star-studded cast, with singer Halle Bailey playing Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as Ursula the sea witch, Jacob Tremblay as Flounder and Javier Bardem as King Triton.
READ: Everything you need to know about Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid
What do you think about the casting?
Fans had a mixed reaction to Jonah's casting, with one writing: "Now that I've done my research and know who he is, he fits Prince Eric to a tee," while another added: "I'm not mad, he's cute and dreamy and very Prince Eric-like, I'm sure Jonah Hauer-King is a name we're gonna be hearing for a while from now on." Others fans were disappointed that Harry Styles hadn't been cast, with one writing: "Just thinking about how we could have had harry as Prince Eric," while another added: "I mean at this point I was prepared for Prince Eric to be played by an audience member for each film screening to incorporate crowd participation."
MORE: The Strictly Come Dancing relationships that didn't stand the test of time
