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

