Yara Shahidi To Play Tinker Bell In Disney’s Live-Action Peter Pan Film
The actress joins Jude Law in the remake of J.M. Barrie’s classic novel
Yara Shahidi has been cast as beloved fairy Tinker Bell in Disney’s live-action remake of 1953’s animated classic Peter Pan & Wendy.
The 20-year-old actress and activist is best known for her starring role on ABC’s Black-ish, as well as being a star and producer of Freeform’s Grown-ish.
Confirming the role on Instagram, Shahidi shared a drawing of herself as Tinkerbell and added the caption: “Thank you for all of the love. It, truly, means so much to me. I’m excited for this next adventure!”
Disney’s reboot is adapted from J.M. Barrie’s novel and currently stars Jude Law as Captain Hook, Ever Anderson as Wendy, and Alexander Molony as Peter Pan.
David Lowery is directing the project from a screenplay he wrote with Toby Halbrooks. Disney halted production on 13 March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While there have been many adaptations of the Peter Pan story over the years, Shahidi’s casting will mark the first time a person of colour has filled the role that traditionally has featured a white actress, Deadline reports.
It follows in the footsteps after Disney’s cast Shahidi’s Grown-ish co-star Halle Bailey as Ariel in The Little Mermaid. Niles Fitch was cast as the studio’s first live-action Black prince in Secret Society of Second-Born Royals on Disney Plus.
The 1953 cartoon version, telling the story of the boy who refuses to grow up and whisks a group of children to live in Neverland with him, remains the most successful adaptation to date.
Other big studio productions have included Steven Spielberg’s Hook starring Robin Williams in 1991, and Joe Wright’s Pan in 2015.
Sources added to the publication that the film will be released in cinemas and not go the Disney+ streaming route.
Written by Naomi Gordon. Lead image courtesy of Harper’s Bazaar Arabia’s September 2020 issue.