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British actors Cameron Cuffe and Jonah Hauer-King testing for Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid

Cameron Cuffe and Jonah Hauer-King up for Prince Eric role (Credit: Getty/WireImage)
Cameron Cuffe and Jonah Hauer-King up for Prince Eric role (Credit: Getty/WireImage)

Two British actors are reportedly in the running to play Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid remake.

Krypton’s Cameron Cuffe and A Dog's Way Home’s Jonah Hauer-King are said to be testing for the Disney role, according to Deadline.

Cuffe, 26, and Hauer-King, 24, are said to have tested in the UK at London’s Pinewood Studios with director Rob Marshall.

Cuffe is most famous for his role in the Superman prequel series Krypton as Seg-El, but it was cancelled after two seasons. He has previously appeared in Florence Foster Jenkins and had a recurring role on the ITV drama The Halcyon.

Prince Eric is the romantic lead in The Little Mermaid (Credit: Disney)
Prince Eric is the romantic lead in The Little Mermaid (Credit: Disney)

Hauer-King appeared in the BBC’s 2017 adaptation of Little Women as Laurie, as well as the 2018 films Ashes in the Snow and Postcards from London.

Deadline says, “one source close to production tells us there’s a large pool of Prince Erics in the mix and Marshall has been auditioning a lot of actors for the part.”

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Grown-ish star and singer Halle Bailey,19, is set to play Ariel, which Melissa McCarthy has been cast as Ursula, Awkwafina as Scuttle and Jacob Tremblay as Flounder.

Javier Bardem is reportedly in talks to play King Triton, Ariel’s father.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 06: Halle Bailey attends Variety's Power of Young Hollywood at The H Club Los Angeles on August 06, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 06: Halle Bailey attends Variety's Power of Young Hollywood at The H Club Los Angeles on August 06, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

Marc Platt, Marshall, Lin-Manuel Miranda and John DeLuca are producing the film penned by Jane Goldman and David Magee with the original animation’s composer Alan Menken back to write new music and lyrics with Miranda.

For a short while, Harry Styles was in talks to play Prince Eric though it was later reported that he had passed on the opportunity.

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Styles later confirmed to The Face that he wasn’t going to be in the film.

“It was discussed,' he said, “I want to put music out and focus on that for a while but everyone involved in it was amazing so I think it's going to be great.

“I'll enjoy watching it, I'm sure.”

The Little Mermaid is expected to start production in April 2020.