Halle Bailey shares a tough moment she had filming ‘Little Mermaid’

(CNN) — Halle Bailey is certainly the it-girl (or, mermaid, as it were) of the moment, but it wasn’t without a serious amount of effort on her part to get there.

The singer and actor, who can currently be seen as Ariel in the live-action “The Little Mermaid,” shared some eye-opening behind-the-scenes footage from the filming of the Disney movie on her verified Instagram over the weekend, with one moment resonating on a particularly vulnerable level.

In the video clip, Bailey can be seen on a break from filming, covered in small black dots that are used to help with motion capture in post production for an effects-heavy film. Her hair is under a swim cap and she is eating a snack before heading back to continue filming.

“So, today is a hard day,” she says, going on to mention that she has been filming the signature “Part of Your World” song sequence “for the past two days now.”

She also mentions how the first two days were dedicated to the beginning of the song and the first two stanzas, and how the third day will be to get “through the rest of it, and it’s hard.”

“I am trembling emotionally, because it’s such a desperate plea,” Bailey says of the emotions needed to successfully sing and express Ariel’s longing to join the world above – the central driving force of the whole story.

“And I’m sensitive, the song is hard to sing, and the song is hard to do in general,” she added. “I’m trying to show every emotion on my face and move the right way I’m supposed to.”

She is then interrupted by the sound of her own voice singing the song. Bailey said she recorded her moment of challenge so she’d remember the work, now shared three years later.

Her efforts have certainly paid off – Bailey’s performance as the underwater Disney princess has earned favorable reviews, and the movie’s box office enjoyed a hefty take over the holiday weekend.

Up next for Bailey – taking on the role of a young Nettie in “The Color Purple,” a cinematic adaptation of the Broadway musical, itself a reboot of the 1985 classic film based on the novel by Alice Walker. “The Color Purple” is due in theaters on Christmas Day.

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