Yara Shahidi on Tinkerbell being a 'fairy of colour' in Peter Pan & Wendy: 'Cool to be a part of creating a new norm'

The story of Peter Pan has been told many times, in many number of ways.

But the latest incarnation, Peter Pan & Wendy – starring Jude Law as Captain Hook – is bringing the classic tale to new audiences.

That's thanks in part to colourblind casting, which sees Black-ish actress Yara Shahidi in the role of Tinkerbell.

READ MORE: Priya Kansara on balancing cultural divides as a British-Indian actress

The 23-year-old tells 9Honey Celebrity playing a "fairy of colour" and being a part of the changing representation on-screen currently taking place across Disney movies is a huge honour for her.

"It's really exciting to know that in some small way, I'm a part of this," Shahidi says over Zoom.

Watch the video above.

"Fairy tales have been so foundational to my life, and I think they are so many of the first stories that kids watch or hear growing up.

"It's cool to be a part of this generation, of creating a new norm, and making sure that kids' fantasy lives, no matter their background, they're able to indulge in the same fantasies and dreams that everyone else is 'cause they can see themselves as fairies and mermaids and everything in between."

Initially, there was some outrage when Black singer Halle Bailey was cast as Ariel in Disney's upcoming live-action remake of The Little Mermaid.

But it was a move supported by the original voice of the character, Jodi Benson, who reportedly told a Florida Supercon convention in 2019 that "the spirit of a character is what really matters".

This is a sentiment Shahidi agrees with, revealing she found the spirit of her character once filming got underway.

"I wouldn't say nervous about being compared to other Tinkerbells but nervous about creating one that would be as special as the Tinkerbells that we've seen before," the actress admits.

"Once we got to set, there was so much playing around that I think that's where we found who she was, her character. We were really were able to define her.

"Tinkerbell is a character that doesn't speak, so is not only really expressive but her character is defined by how she relates to other people."

That in itself provided quite the challenge for the Salt star, leaving her to pull faces in the mirror as preparation for her role while filming all by herself in LA during the pandemic.

"I think what's interesting about the process was that not only was I shooting by myself, but motion capture requires you to be quite still when you're doing your face stuff, and then you go and you shoot all of your body reference work separately," she says.

"And so I even had to figure out and map out beforehand, depending on what my body is doing how does my face look, so that the two match up when we put it all together."

Shahidi reveals she finally met the rest of the cast for the very first time at the World Premiere in London last week.

Peter Pan & Wendy is streaming now on Disney+

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