Daveed Diggs and Awkwafina Discuss ‘The Little Mermaid’

He was 7-years-old when “The Little Mermaid” turned a shock animation hit and soundtrack juggernaut in 1989, and he or she was nonetheless a child. But the Tony-winning “Hamilton” alum Daveed Diggs and the comedian actress Nora Lum, who is best often called Awkwafina (“The Farewell,” “Crazy Rich Asians”), each retain vivid reminiscences of the movie (the latter fondly remembers it as “definitely a major player in my Disney VHS collection”). Now they’re co-starring within the director Rob Marshall’s formidable live-action reimagining, at the moment in theaters: Diggs, 41, because the sympathetic crab Sebastian, and Awkwafina, 34, because the birdbrained gull Scuttle. The pair focus on on-set rap battles, supporting the brand new Mermaid Halle Bailey and the artwork of stealing scenes by the seashore. Below are edited excerpts from the dialog.

How do you navigate the legacy of Samuel Wright and Buddy Hackett, the actors who originated the voice roles of Sebastian and Scuttle, with out being weighed down by it?

AWKWAFINA: These characters aren’t solely performances that we all know, they’re seared into our minds, so I feel the thought is admittedly to not go in to duplicate a efficiency that’s beloved, however so as to add what you possibly can to it. There was a approach to do these characters that’s simply on the e book, however Rob [Marshall] actually facilitated an excellent surroundings to carry our personal selves into it and improv.

DAVEED DIGGS: I’m probably not a singer singer. My voice can solely do what it does, I can’t do what Samuel did. So I didn’t have the choice of copying it, you realize what I’m saying? It’s a slender window of selections I’ve, however I really feel like I made the perfect ones I might.

These aren’t your first voice roles. What have you ever discovered whenever you don’t have two of the most important instruments at your disposal as an actor, which is your physique and your face?

AWKWAFINA: Oh man. You know, it’s really extra fluid. There’s a lot extra chance, I spotted, with out the physique concerned.

DIGGS: Your bodily look is admittedly limiting in plenty of methods, proper? And the best way your physique strikes by means of area and the best way it has to react to a digital camera can be fairly limiting. So what I like most about voice appearing is you can also make any alternative. Also it’s low-cost for them to file, so nobody will get mad whenever you need one other take. Just do one other one! You don’t should reset all of the pyrotechnics.

You’ve each rapped professionally and launched albums and mixtapes. But whenever you obtained Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rapid-fire lyrics for the brand new music “The Scuttlebutt,” what was the issue stage for you?

AWKWAFINA: It was intense. I didn’t know Scuttle was going to have a music initially. And realizing that it was one thing that Lin was doing, and that it was very a lot in his voice, I felt stress in that I needed to do an excellent job. He wrote Daveed in as we had been recording it, And I keep in mind listening to Daveed and Lin discuss — simply going over his half, which he had simply been despatched, and completely nailed simply within the studying, and pondering, “This is so cool to see them work together.”

DIGGS: I used to be simply excited to get to listen to Awkwafina rap once more, I’ve been a fan.

You’ve additionally each been a part of tasks with color-conscious casting earlier than, however this one elicited some notably ugly suggestions on-line. How was it watching Halle Bailey stroll by means of that, the response to a Black mermaid?

DIGGS: Halle is, I’m satisfied, the one particular person on the earth who might have performed this half. To watch her navigate the world publish the announcement — that might’ve in all probability damaged me, notably at her age. I imply, a lot pleasure is already one factor, after which additionally that sort of intense racism simply being fired in direction of you, it’s insane. But I feel her efficiency is so simple. The greatest approach to silence a hater is to only be nice.

The film does appear to evoke some actually highly effective reactions, due to all of the attachments to it.

AWKWAFINA: People have informed me that they had been crying from like, the second that Halle began singing “Part of Your World,” then by no means actually stopped.

DIGGS: I’m a kind of individuals. I used to be proper behind you, making an attempt to not cry audibly.

AWKWAFINA: I feel the actually cool factor about the perfect sorts of diversifications is that they honestly do carry individuals again to no matter their relationship with the film is. When I used to be younger, it taught me so many themes about life and storytelling and character that also actually maintain true on this new one.

Did enjoying these roles change your relationship to seafood? How do you’re feeling about crab truffles now?

DIGGS: Still love ‘em.

AWKWAFINA: People keep asking me why Scuttle has not eaten Sebastian. It’s come up so usually really, consistently! Until they began asking, it by no means occurred to me.