Yara Shahidi will be the first Black actor to play Tinker Bell in the live-action 'Peter Pan' remake

• Yara Shahidi has been cast as Tinker Bell in Disney's live-action "Peter Pan and Wendy," a remake of the 1953 animated movie.
• Shahidi announced the news on Instagram on Friday, writing: "lettssssgooooo" with "#Tinkerbell" and fairy emojis.
• Deadline reported that Shahidi's role as Tinker Bell will mark the first time a person of color has played the fictional fairy.
• The actress, 20, stars in the Freeform TV series "Black-ish" and "Grown-ish."

Yara Shahidi will make history as the first person of color to play the Tinker Bell character in Disney's famous "Peter Pan" fairytale.

The actress, 20, stars in the Freeform TV series "Black-ish" and "Grown-ish." She'll play the fairy character Tinker Bell in the live-action movie "Peter Pan and Wendy," a remake of the original animated movie from 1953, Deadline first reported on Friday.

Deadline reported that Shahidi's role as Tinker Bell will mark the first time a person of color has played the fairy in any official production of "Peter Pan" — which has been turned into a live-action TV special and a Broadway musical.

Shahidi hinted at the casting news on Friday via Instagram with a post captioned: "lettssssgooooo" with "#Tinkerbell" and fairy emojis.

lettssssgooooo ‍♂️‍♂️‍♂️ #Tinkerbell

A post shared by Yara (يارا‎) Shahidi (@yarashahidi) on Sep 25, 2020 at 2:15pm PDTSep 25, 2020 at 2:15pm PDT

Fans on Twitter shared their reactions to Shahidi as Tinker Bell.

—tinker bell (@dori_symone) September 26, 2020

One user said that they are excited for Shahidi being cast as Tinker Bell but wished Disney would create "new and diverse characters."

—A (@Andreadiazliz) September 26, 2020

One Twitter user who responded to Deadline's tweet about Shahidi playing Tinker Bell in the live-action movie wrote that they "don't agree" because the fairy is "white and blonde," but users were quick to defend the diverse casting choice.

"She's also a pretend fairy cartoon character," one user tweeted in response.

Another Twitter user pointed out that Tinker Bell was "a character originally played by a flashlight in the plays," referring to the blinking glow from a flashlight used to represent the fairy in past live, onstage versions of "Peter Pan."

Last year, Disney announced that the actress Halle Bailey will play Ariel in the upcoming, live-action remake of "The Little Mermaid," which also sparked divided reactions — some fans thought that an actor of color playing a fictional character was long-overdue, while others expressed confusion over the casting choice.

The forthcoming "Peter Pan and Wendy" movie will also feature the actor Jude Law as Captain Hook. The actress Ever Anderson will play Wendy, and Peter Pan will be played by Alexander Molony, according to Deadline.

Deadline cited sources that said the movie would be released theaters opposed to premiere on Disney+. A release date has not yet been announced.

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