‘The Little Mermaid’ stars Awkwafina, Daveed Diggs and Jacob Tremblay sat down with Narcity’s Brooke Houghton to talk about the live-action remake and what it was like playing their respective roles as Scuttle, Sebastian and Flounder. The cast also talked about working with Lin-Manuel Miranda on the film’s new songs, the public reaction to Flounder’s live-action design and what it means to bring a Disney classic back to a whole new generation.
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00:00 The relationships really come through in this one, to me.
00:02 That's the biggest difference.
00:04 Yeah, and I think the best remakes really,
00:06 they, you know, touch upon things that we loved
00:10 about the original, but also stand on their own
00:12 in this kind of new way.
00:14 I'm so excited to dive on in today.
00:17 -Yes. -Awesome, us too.
00:19 My first question is for Awkwafina and David.
00:21 You know, this version of "The Little Mermaid"
00:23 has brand-new songs and an incredible rap track.
00:25 Walk me through the process of creating
00:27 and recording "Skuttlebutt."
00:28 I actually didn't know at first
00:30 that "Skuttle" was gonna have that song,
00:32 and I remember Lin was writing it.
00:35 It was just, like, really fun
00:37 because it has Lin-Manuel all over it,
00:39 you know what I mean? And I'm such a fan of him,
00:41 and to, like, perform something that was, like,
00:43 an original thing was just an honor.
00:46 I love it. And then my next question is for you, Jacob.
00:48 You play such a lovable and adorable flounder,
00:51 but I want to know, what did you think
00:52 about the public's reactions
00:54 to flounder's kind of live-action presence?
00:56 Well, I saw the design a long time ago.
00:59 Actually, when I went in for the audition,
01:01 Rob had showed me, and I thought it was really cool.
01:03 And obviously, when we're on set together,
01:04 we had seen all the designs
01:06 and see how they work with the puppets
01:08 'cause I think they had a flounder that was, like,
01:10 kind of like a spring almost,
01:11 where it could kind of wiggle like that.
01:13 I thought it was really cool, and obviously,
01:15 watching the movie, I thought it worked so well.
01:16 And, you know, I'm excited for people to see the movie
01:20 and then see their reactions
01:23 because I think it genuinely works really well,
01:25 and I really couldn't imagine it a different way.
01:29 David, throwing it back to you,
01:30 you're such comedic relief in this role.
01:32 Sebastian is hilarious.
01:33 You know, how did you put your own spin on this character?
01:36 I mean, you know, I love Sebastian,
01:38 the original Sebastian, so I tried to, like,
01:42 not watch it very much so that I would have
01:44 a bunch of misrememberings of that brilliant performance.
01:47 And then just so much of it became about, like,
01:51 what worked for this company
01:52 and understanding how this story was unfolding
01:54 and, like, what my voice is capable of doing.
01:56 We were given so much freedom to play
01:59 that it felt less like putting a spin on a thing that existed
02:04 and more just like,
02:05 "This is who Sebastian is in this movie."
02:08 You know, like, it was just like, that's --
02:10 Once we found him, it was like, "Yep, that's him."
02:12 And that's where he existed.
02:14 Well, we definitely love him,
02:16 and what do you think the biggest changes are
02:17 that viewers are gonna see when they're kind of comparing
02:20 your version to the original?
02:21 Oh, I don't know.
02:23 I mean, I think this whole film does a thing
02:27 because of the live-action-ness of it
02:28 and because of all of the amazing performances
02:32 and how captivating and real Halle is, really.
02:37 Like, it grounds everything.
02:39 Obviously, the sort of photorealistic animals,
02:41 but I think it makes you really aware of the relationships
02:45 in a way that the original one doesn't do as much.
02:47 Like, the original one is unbelievable.
02:50 But I think, you know, like,
02:51 the relationships really come through in this one, to me.
02:54 That's the biggest difference.
02:55 Yeah, and I think the best remakes, really,
02:58 they, you know, touch upon things
03:01 that we loved about the original,
03:02 but also stand on their own in this kind of new way.
03:05 I think it really does uphold the things
03:08 that we remember as children,
03:09 but also it's, like, an entirely new story with, like --
03:12 It was kind of scary at times, like, with, like, some of the --
03:16 When we go down deep into Ursula's lair,
03:19 like, that was, like, scary.
03:20 Yeah.
03:20 I was, like, "It's scary."
03:21 You understand why she's mean, too.
03:23 Like, you know, you'd start being like,
03:25 "Oh, man, she's, like, damaged."
03:27 You know, like --
03:27 Yeah, they added in that brother/sister.
03:29 Yeah, which is scary.
03:30 How does it feel to bring an old Disney classic back to life?
03:34 It was great because what's cool about it
03:37 is that not only do we get to create it
03:39 for the older audiences who grew up with the original,
03:41 but we get to also reintroduce it to younger audiences.
03:45 And it's cool to kind of see them side by side.
03:47 And what's cool about it for the older audiences
03:50 is that they get to see their beloved characters
03:52 kind of, but in more depth, I would say.
03:55 Amazing. Well, thank you guys so much for your time today.
03:57 And congratulations.
03:58 So excited for people to see the movie.
04:00 Thank you.
04:01 Thanks for watching.
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