Deadline exclusively revealed that Yara Shahidi is set to play Tinkerbell in Disney’s upcoming live-action Peter Pan and Wendy.
Shahidi is most known for her role as Zoey in ABC’s Black-ish. She went on to star in the spinoff series Grown-ish and ABC Studios has signed her onto an overall deal. She also recently starred in the film The Sun is Also a Star.
Shahidi will be making history as the first Black actress to portray Peter Pan’s fairy friend on screen. Disney’s live-action films have been making multiple strides to include a diverse array of actors, most notably in the casting of Halle Bailey as Ariel in the upcoming The Little Mermaid.
Peter Pan and Wendy will be directed by David Lowery, who also directed the live-action Pete’s Dragon. Jude Law will reportedly be playing Captain Hook, while Alexander Molony has been cast as Peter Pan and Ever Anderson has been cast as Wendy. The film was originally set to be released on Disney+ but will now be released theatrically. Production is expected to begin next year but there is no release date for the film.
