How Maya Hawke missed out on two versions of the same movie: “I really wanted that”
Nepotism can get you far in the film industry, but can it get you everything you want? It can certainly take you further than most, but as Maya Hawke has learned, that’s not always enough to secure you the part you’ve always wanted.
Like every actor, Hawke has coveted a certain role for years, desperately wanting to bring a specific character to life, but so far, she’d had no luck. Even worse, she has gotten close twice, but both times have ultimately been unsuccessful, leaving the role just a dream that one day she might be lucky enough to fulfil.
Rather unexpectedly, the role that Hawke has always wanted to play is a live-action version of Ariel in The Little Mermaid, a character made famous by the Disney animated movie from 1989. Having risen to prominence as Robin in Stranger Things as well as working with the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Wes Anderson, it’s hard to imagine her then playing a Disney princess, but you’ve got to hand it to her, she clearly has big ambitions.
Before Hawke’s film debut in the 2018 film Ladyworld, Hawke was considered for the part of Ariel in a version of The Little Mermaid that never saw the light of day. Believe it or not, there was a time when Sofia Coppola was going to helm her own live-action adaptation of the story, and she wanted newcomer Hawke in the leading role.
Coppola centres her work around misunderstood, alienated young women, so perhaps her vision of Ariel could’ve been revolutionary. However, the studio wasn’t as keen on hiring Hawke, who’d never appeared in a film before, and in the end, the project crumbled into nothing. Hawke wasn’t going to get her big break as the red-haired teenager of the sea, who desperately wants to be like other humans, not part-fish.
Almost a decade later, a live-action version of The Little Mermaid emerged from Disney with Halle Bailey in the leading role, but in a 2019 interview with Buzzfeed, Hawke revealed that she had auditioned for “the new live-action Little Mermaid,” which suggests that she tried out for Disney’s version as well as Coppola’s.
This version, directed by Rob Marshall, received mixed reviews from critics, although the movie was surrounded by plenty of fiery debate when people started piping up about the fact that Bailey, who is African American, was cast in the role. These blatantly racist remarks were ridiculous, because it was Bailey who impressed Marshall the most with her audition – simple as that.
So, Hawke didn’t get the part, even though she “really wanted that,” but clearly the best actor for the job won. While The Little Mermaid was a box office hit, Hawke perhaps would’ve boxed herself into the kinds of roles that she’s just not destined for with the Disney movie, so it seemed to work out for the best.
With a recent role in the Oscar-nominated Maestro and a successful music career to focus on, Hawke’s career has gone in a somewhat different direction than it might’ve if she’d become a Disney princess.
