52 | MAY 25 • 2023
LITTLE MERMAID: A
STAR IS BORN? A GOOD
FILMMAKER’S LATEST;
MEMORIAL DAY NOTE
A “live-action” version of the
musical The Little Mermaid,
a Disney movie, opens
in theaters on May 26.
African American actress
Halle Bailey, 23, co-stars as
Ariel, a mermaid princess
who is fascinated with the
human world. Jonah Hauer-
King, 27, co-stars as Eric, a
human prince whom Ariel
falls in love with after saving
him from drowning.
Hauer, a very handsome
fellow, was born and raised
in the U.K. His Jewish
mother, a therapist, is an
American. His father is a
big-time U.K. restaurant
owner. He has dual British
and American citizenship.
It isn’t clear if his father is
Jewish. But it is clear that
Jonah was raised Jewish,
and he strongly identifies as
Jewish.
Bailey, a five-time Grammy
nominee, can really sing.
How well Hauer-King can
sing will be revealed in this
film. I imagine he wouldn’t
have gotten the part unless
he can sing at least pretty
well.
Hauer-King’s film career
could take off into the
“stratosphere” via his Little
Mermaid role. Nothing
is certain — but it’s likely
that this film will become
a massive box-office
and streaming hit. If this
happens, Hauer-King will be
in demand for big-budget
films and, perhaps, top-
drawer streaming series.
Here’s more about this
potential star: In 2019,
Hauer-King had his biggest
film role to date — in the
film A Dog’s Way Home. It is
a family-friendly flick about
a dog who travels 400 miles
to reunite with his owner,
Lucas (Hauer-King). Reviews
weren’t great, but the film
earned $80 million, five
times its cost.
Hauer’s maternal
grandfather, a surgeon,
was a founding member
(1950s) of a synagogue in
a San Francisco suburb,
and Hauer-King frequently
visits his San Francisco-area
relatives. In 2018, he told
a British magazine that he
grew up in a “North London
Jewish family” and that he is
graduate of the prestigious
Cambridge University.
Interestingly, his degree is
in theology and religious
studies.
In 2017, his older sister,
Hannah, a theater director,
told a British website, “I love
being Jewish. I feel like we
should all be spiritual. It
doesn’t need to be through
an organized religion; for
me it just happens to be
Judaism because that’s how
I was brought up.”
Back to the movie: As
you might guess, there are
complications in Ariel and
Eric’s romance — which I
won’t detail here. I will note
that Daveed Diggs, 41, who
won a Tony for his Hamilton
role, and wrote and sang
a Chanukah song for the
Disney Channel in 2021,
voices Sebastian, a crab
who is Ariel’s friend and the
court composer for Ariel’s
father, King Triton.
Diggs, who identifies as
Jewish, is the son of an
African American father and
a white Jewish mother.
Most of the songs from
the 1989 animated Little
Mermaid film will be in the
new film. Four new songs
were written, including a
rap song for Diggs. Alan
Menken, 73, who wrote
the music for the 1989 film,
wrote the new songs, too
(music and lyrics). The late
Howard Ashman wrote
the lyrics for the 1989 film
songs.
Also opening on May
26 is You Hurt My Feelings,
a comedy-drama directed
by and written by Nicole
Holofcener, 63. Since 1996,
she has made 10 movies
that didn’t make “big bucks”
but got good-to-great
reviews.
Her biggest box office hit
was Enough Said (2013), an
insightful look at a couple’s
romance. It costarred
James Gandolfini and Julia
Louis-Dreyfus. It was the
best role Gandolfini had
after The Sopranos ended,
and it was the best movie
role Julia Louis-Dreyfus
has ever had. So, it’s no
surprise that Louis-Dreyfus
grabbed the lead role in
You Hurt My Feelings.
Louis-Dreyfus, who isn’t
Jewish (but had a Jewish
grandfather), plays Beth,
a woman who is content
with a so/so marriage until
her husband betrays her.
Michaela Watkins, 51, plays
Sarah, Beth’s sister, and
Jeannie Berlin, 73, plays
Beth and Sarah’s mother
(Berlin’s mother is Elaine
May, 91).
Memorial Day is
celebrated on May 29.
Here’s the story of a Jew
who died in combat and
a surprising celebrity
connection. On Aug. 15,
1945, Capt. Jerry Yellin
flew a plane that attacked
a Japanese airfield. His
“wingman,” Lt. Philip
Schlamberg, piloted
another fighter plane. Japan
surrendered on the 15th, but
that news didn’t get to the
pilots during their mission.
Schlamberg’s plane was
shot down. He was the
last American combat pilot
to die in WWII. He was 19
years old.
Yellin, who died in
2017, age 93, suffered
mentally after the war. He
found some comfort in
transcendental meditation,
and he founded an
organization, Operation
Warrior Wellness, to help
traumatized vets via
meditation. Schlamberg’s
grandniece, Scarlett
Johansson, 38, did videos
for the organization and
financially supports it.
CELEBRITY NEWS
ARTS&LIFE
NATE BLOOM COLUMNIST
BY KINGOSH
Jonah Hauer-King
BY HENRY SDERLUND
Daveed Diggs
GAGE SKIDMORE
Scarlett Johansson