There has been speculation about a live-action movie for “The Princess and the Frog.” The main focus seems to be who will be playing Princess Tiana in this remake. Twitter users took it upon themselves to nominate who they think should play her and who they think should not be considered. I think there are three people who should be considered: Coco Jones, Anika Noni Rose and Ryan Destiny. 

Before I get into why these three actresses should be considered, what does Princess Tiana look like? According to the  Disney wiki, “Tiana is a 19-year-old African American woman. She is tall and slender with a sculpted figure. She has brown skin, medium-length, wavy black hair usually tied in a low ponytail, light brown eyes with pink eye shadow, a bright smile, and dimples.” 

However, the main thing that people would like to have is an actual brown or dark-skinned black woman playing Princess Tiana. She has to be because she is Disney’s first and only African American princess. Young black girls need to be able to see themselves in the media whether it be as doctors, actors or, in this case, a princess. They need to be aware that they are seen in this world and that they belong there. 

Additionally, with “The Princess and the Frog” taking place in New Orleans, it is only natural that she is African American seeing as 59.22% of New Orleans is black or African American.Disney drew inspiration from the true story of Leah Chase, a black woman who worked her way up from being a waitress to a restaurant owner and is now known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine. 

Now on to my nominees. They are all either black or African American so they satisfy the most important attributes of Princess Tiana. 

My first pick for the role of Tiana would be Anika Noni Rose. She is the voice of Tiana in the Disney movie and I feel like that would really make it seem like the movie is coming to life. The songs would sound the same and she is an actress so it would not be hard for her to play the role of Tiana. 

The second pick would be Coco Jones because I heard her rendition of “The Princess and the Frog” song “Almost There” and I thought she sounded great. Also aesthetically, seeing the numerous photos of her in similar outfits as Princess Tiana also made it seem like she was made for the role. She has experience acting as well so it would not be something new to her.

My final pick would be Ryan Destiny. She is a phenomenal actress and singer. She has dimples like Tiana, which I think is cute. It also satisfies one of Tiana’s physical characteristics. 

I would be happy to see them play her but as long as the actress is brown or dark-skinned and can sing, I would be satisfied. 

Photo by David Guerrero via  Pexels