Disney‘s live-action remake of The Little Mermaid has finally cast the role of Prince Eric after months of speculation.
The role, which was previously turned down by Harry Styles, will now be played by upcoming British star Jonah Hauer-King.
As Deadline reports, Hauer-King bagged the role after pipping Krypton‘s Cameron Cuffe.
While the role marks the 24-year-old’s biggest career step to date, eagle-eyed fans may remember him as Laurie from BBC’s Little Women mini-series which aired in 2017. He also played the role of Harry in the BBC’s WW2 Drama World on Fire, which concluded earlier this month.
Disney’s live-action take on the classic story will also star Halle Bailey as titular mermaid Ariel, Melissa McCarthy as sea witch Ursula and Javier Bardem as King Triton. Other significant casting includes Jacob Tremblay as the voice of Flounder, Crazy Rich Asians actress Awkwafina as Scuttle and Hamilton star Daveed Diggs as Sebastian the crab.
The confirmation of Hauer-King’s casting comes after Harry Styles confirmed last week that he had turned down the role.
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According to Styles, there were a “few things” that they couldn’t work out. He also added that his upcoming plans for his music didn’t align with the film’s production schedule.
“I think it’s obviously going to be an amazing film,” Styles said. “But they shoot for so long and I wanna tour next year, maybe. I haven’t announced that yet, but yeah, it just didn’t quite line up.”
While Styles might have taken himself out of the running for Prince Eric, the former One Direction singer has shown interest to play the next James Bond.
The Little Mermaid will go into production early next year.