It looks like another Hamilton alum is joining the cast and crew under the sea!
According to Variety, The Little Mermaid live-action has found its eccentric crab, Sebastian, in Daveed Diggs.
As Variety reports:
The Little Mermaid will be directed by Rob Marshall and written by David Magee. The upcoming film will incorporate original songs from the 1989 animated classic, as well as new tunes from original composer Alan Menken with lyrics by Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. Miranda is also producing the film along with Marshall, Marc Platt and John DeLuca. Jessica Virtue and Allison Erlikhman are overseeing for the studio.
In the original, Sebastian is a Jamaican crab and advisor of King Triton and delivers one of the movie’s most famous songs, “Under the Sea.”
The Little Mermaid’s leading lady Ariel will be portrayed by Halle Bailey, Melissa McCarthy will portray the voice-stealing aunt Ursula and Javier Bardem has been cast as King Triton.
I’m sure Diggs’ charisma will translate well to Sebastian and I’m looking forward to the big “Under the Sea” musical number where he essentially tries to convince Ariel that the ocean life is superior and that the land above is, whew chile, the ghetto. No word yet on whether Diggs’ version will include an affected Jamaican accent or not.
Following his Hamilton success, Diggs’ career is bursting at the seams, most notably with roles in Blindspotting—which he wrote and starred in along with fellow Hamilton alum Rafael Casal, Black-ish and more. As for upcoming projects, he is set to portray Frederick Douglass in Showtime’s The Good Lord Bird and he’ll be starring in the small screen adaptation of Snowpiercer (which was a damn good movie, so I’m looking forward to this).
The Little Mermaid is Disney’s latest venture into reviving most of its animated classics as live-action features, but it is not to be confused with The Little Mermaid Live!, which will be a stage play version of the classic set to premiere on television (with a completely different cast) on Nov. 5.
The upcoming live-action film is currently in pre-production.