Daveed Diggs is aware that people might take issue with his portrayal of Sebastian the crab in the upcoming live action Little Mermaid film, due to the fact that Sebastian's voice is clearly meant to evoke either a Jamaican or a Trinidadian accent, and Diggs does not have a Caribbean background.
The actor recently noted to the Hollywood Reporter:
I was never gunning to be in these Disney remakes and, if I'm being honest, Sebastian comes with a lot of responsibility. For a lot of folks my age who are from the Caribbean, Sebastian was the first time they'd really seen themselves in American film, and I'm not Caribbean, so …" he pauses there, acknowledging that his team will probably scream at him for even talking about this, and then continues: "We'll see if people crucify me for it."
Clearly, 2021 is a different political environment than 1988, when the original Little Mermaid animated film was released. The original voice of Sebastian, Samuel E. Wright, also did not have a Caribbean background. Wright explained to Glamour magazine the influence for Sebaatian's voice was the famous Caribbean-American actor, Geoffrey Holder, "Sebastian was very strange for me because when I first saw the sketch for Sebastian, he looked like he was made in the style of the old Jamaican actor Geoffrey Holder, a big tall guy, a Broadway choreographer."
In recent years, though, actors and film producers are much more aware of possible cultural insensitivity in the casting of roles. Ed Skrein, for instance, famously dropped out of the recent Hellboy film version because the character he was cast as, Benjamin Daimio, was of mixed Asian heritage and Skrein was White.
Representation is important for Diggs, who the Hollywood Reporter explained, "got to yes on The Little Mermaid in large part because of the bold casting of Bailey, a young Black star, as Ariel. He worked with Disney's Pixar, too, as one of its "cultural consultants" on Soul, the studio's first film with a Black protagonist, to make sure it was reflective."
While Diggs is struggling with his own casting, he has also spoken about how much work he is putting in to make sure that the character still connects for Carribbean viewers, adding, "I want somebody who is from Trinidad or from Jamaica, depending on where we landed with the role, to be able to see themselves in this, in some way. Even though maybe my voice doesn’t sound exactly right, I wanted to feel like somebody connected to it. I had so many friends growing up for whom Sebastian was the first time they had seen themselves represented in mainstream American culture. As flawed as that is, that’s still important. So, that role stressed me out quite a bit, but also is incredibly fun. Like I said, I did more research for that role, than I have for any part, ever, and I’m literally a crab. It seems crazy maybe, in hindsight."
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