Halle Bailey On Her Career From Grown-Ish To The Little Mermaid | The Breakdown | Cosmopolitan
To know Halle Bailey is to love her - and today we are getting to know and love her even more as she spills on her career in an episode of the Breakdown . The gorgeous singer and actor tells us all about her journey, from her singing cover at only 11 years old (that led to getting discovered) to being thrown into the acting world with 'The Little Mermaid' ♀️ . Watch along to learn her favorite thing in the world , and see some BTS footage of her many amazing projects!
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00:00 Oh my gosh, I can't watch this.
00:02 Every time I see these videos, they make me cry.
00:05 Hey, I'm Halle Bailey,
00:07 and today I'm doing the breakdown with Cosmopolitan.
00:10 I think watching my performances back,
00:13 it's truly an interesting experience
00:16 because on one hand, you're really proud of yourself
00:18 and the work that you did,
00:20 and you're like, wow, this turned out great.
00:22 And then on the other hand, you're like,
00:24 my voice sounds funny.
00:26 Why is my hair like this right here?
00:27 And you're like critiquing yourself.
00:29 So it's like a bittersweet thing, but I love it.
00:33 Yeah.
00:35 The music, that's funny.
00:45 I love it.
00:46 Filming "The Little Mermaid" was definitely
00:48 very, very physical for me.
00:49 I mean, I did three months of stunt training and rehearsals
00:53 in the harness and also in water with synchronized swimmers
00:57 just to get the beautiful, graceful swim that Ariel has.
01:00 So it was definitely a lot of intensity on my body,
01:04 but it was so cool 'cause I was really strong back then.
01:07 That was three years ago.
01:08 ♪ Heart of the world ♪
01:11 So this clip here, I was so excited to be able to sing
01:32 with this beautiful orchestra.
01:33 It was an a hundred piece orchestra,
01:35 my first ever experience getting to do that
01:38 and sing these songs that I've known and loved for so long.
01:41 So it was really special.
01:43 They moved me to tears for sure 'cause their playing
01:45 is just so beautiful.
01:46 You feel like you're listening to a dream.
01:49 - She's like me.
01:52 - Oh, my word.
01:53 - She's like me.
01:55 - Why can't we see your face?
02:00 - They're about to show it, keep watching.
02:02 - She's black!
02:04 (laughing)
02:06 - Yeah, every time I see these videos, they make me cry.
02:10 I mean, I love seeing the beautiful families come together
02:14 and react that way.
02:15 It makes me feel so happy and so embraced and so proud.
02:20 And I'm just so grateful that they get to see themselves.
02:23 Oh, there's too many to count.
02:25 I have so many favorites that I just love.
02:28 Today, I teach a class about a place called Africa.
02:34 She say our mamas come from Queens over there.
02:36 That means that we royalty.
02:42 - Yeah, wow.
02:45 What is it like filling the shoes of these big roles for me?
02:48 I think it's a really beautiful experience for me
02:52 and a transformative time because, you know,
02:56 I consider myself a musician, a singer first.
02:59 So this world is kind of new for me, this acting world.
03:02 And suddenly to be thrown into these beautiful places
03:06 of stories that I've known and grown up with my whole life
03:10 is really exciting because I feel like I'm able to paint
03:13 a beautiful picture of a character
03:15 that's lived in my heart for a long time.
03:17 With "The Color Purple," I was more than excited to join,
03:21 especially hearing that it would be
03:23 a beautiful musical adaptation
03:24 where I get to incorporate my love of music.
03:27 I actually got to write an original song
03:30 for the film as well.
03:31 So I just can't wait 'cause it's just a combination
03:34 of all the things that I love
03:35 and these stories that matter so much to us.
03:38 Listen, sweetie, if I were an empathetic human being,
03:41 I would tell you that maybe you need to try
03:43 and figure out your feelings and see what you really want.
03:46 'Cause until you do, neither you nor Luca
03:48 will be able to move on, okay?
03:50 But I'm dead inside, so can you figure it out
03:52 so we can go back to this voter registration hell
03:54 that Anna's thirsty ass has roped us into before nobody-
03:57 - I see, Lucia.
03:59 "Grown-ish" is so funny.
04:00 We had a blast when we did "Grown-ish,"
04:03 and I feel like Sky is very close
04:06 to who Halle is as a human being.
04:08 I felt like I could just be myself.
04:10 I think TV is different than shooting movies
04:13 because it feels, I think it feels less serious in a way.
04:17 Like movies, well, at least the two I've done now,
04:21 I've been, the ones that I've done
04:23 have been very kind of big, overwhelming feature films.
04:26 TV just feels a bit more simple and easy and fun.
04:31 - Please welcome Grammy-nominated sister duo
04:34 and Atlanta natives, Chloe and Halle.
04:38 ♪ God shed, God shed his grace ♪
04:41 ♪ On thee ♪
04:43 ♪ And crown ♪
04:46 - Singing with my sister is my favorite thing ever
04:49 to do in life.
04:51 This moment was so fun for us.
04:53 We were so nervous, but we had a great time.
04:56 What was the most unexpected thing
04:58 was just how nervous we were.
05:00 I mean, not really unexpected 'cause we get nervous a lot,
05:03 but I think because that was the Super Bowl,
05:06 we were like, oh my gosh, we can't mess it up.
05:10 ♪ Baby, I get sick of you ♪
05:15 ♪ You're that same old tune ♪
05:19 ♪ I don't ever wanna hear you again ♪
05:23 ♪ Why are you acting like you're still here ♪
05:27 - Yes, this was so funny looking at it.
05:30 I haven't watched it in so long.
05:32 Drop was our very first single that we released together
05:36 and it held such special memories in my heart.
05:40 I remember we were like feeling like bosses on the set.
05:43 We were like, okay, yeah.
05:45 Yeah, having our hair braided together
05:48 was like such a really cool time for us.
05:53 It was a beautiful style
05:54 that this beautiful woman named Kimmy came up with
05:57 and it was cool weaving it all together.
06:01 - Hi, I'm Chloe.
06:02 - And I'm Hattie.
06:03 - I'm 13 years old.
06:04 - And I'm 11.
06:05 - And we'll be singing "Best Thing I Never Had" by Beyoncé.
06:08 ♪ Who goes around comes back around ♪
06:11 ♪ Hey, my baby ♪
06:13 ♪ Your height ♪
06:15 ♪ Ooh, ooh ♪
06:17 ♪ Oh, do you expect me to care ♪
06:20 ♪ You don't ♪
06:22 ♪ And do you think ♪
06:25 ♪ With my tears ♪
06:27 ♪ I'd catch that twat thing ♪
06:29 - Oh my gosh, I can't watch this.
06:32 So this is, this is the,
06:35 one of our first covers my sister and I did,
06:37 "Best Thing I Never Had,"
06:39 which is so cringy when I watch it,
06:42 but it's honestly one of the videos
06:45 that gave us the ability to do what we do today.
06:50 My sister and I would post a lot of covers
06:53 to a lot of Beyoncé songs.
06:55 I think I was like 12,
06:56 and Chloe might've been like 13 and a half.
06:59 And then she shortly after discovered us and who we are,
07:03 and then decided to take us under her wing.
07:06 So this video is the reason why
07:09 we have our careers going on today.
07:11 So even though it's laughable to watch,
07:14 I'm like, you know what?
07:15 Those girls were something.
07:18 Thank you so much for checking out the breakdown.
07:20 (upbeat music)
07:23 (upbeat music)