In Disney’s 2023 film The Little Mermaid, which actor played Queen Selina?

In Disney’s 2023 film The Little Mermaid, Noma Dumezweni played Queen Selina.

Queen Selina is a new character created for the 2023 live-action adaptation. She is presented as the queen of the human kingdom where Prince Eric lives and as Eric’s adoptive mother. This expands the human royal family beyond the material found in Disney’s 1989 animated film.

Dumezweni’s casting added a prominent human-world role to the adaptation’s ensemble. Queen Selina’s relationship with Eric provides context for his upbringing and for the political setting surrounding his life as a prince. The character also helps distinguish the remake’s world-building from the simpler unnamed human kingdom of the animated original.

The role is sometimes confused with Ariel’s mother, Queen Athena, who belongs to the mermaid backstory and is played by another actor in the 2023 film. Queen Selina is human, while Athena is part of Triton’s underwater family. Noma Dumezweni is also known for stage and screen work outside the film, including her performance as Hermione Granger in the original West End production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.