The Live-Action Tangled Just Locked In Its Mother Gothel (Perfect Casting?!)
Did Disney finally listen to fans? Because this feels right.
There are so many good movies in the works right now. We’re blessed enough to be getting a Greta Gerwig-directed Chronicles of Narnia remake, and there’s a confirmed sequel to Disney’s Coco in the works. Another film we can’t wait to see: the live-action remake of Disney’s Tangled. Of course, casting in live-action remakes has been a major source of contention among fans, making speculation about who could be tapped to play the beloved characters of Rapunzel and Flynn Rider (and of course, Mother Gothel) a particularly hot topic. Well, the wait is finally over, and — dare we say? — it seems like fans are actually 100% on board with Disney’s casting so far for the live-action Tangled.
Disney announced they were green-lighting a live-action Tangled remake in 2024, and it’s now been confirmed that The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey will bring this musical movie to life in all its glory. The film is part of Disney’s push to turn a slew of their animated classics into live-action movies, as they did with The Lion King and the forthcoming Snow White and Lilo & Stitch remakes.
Not much else is known about the Tangled reboot yet, but here’s the latest casting news and a few other details we do have.
Who will play Rapunzel and Flynn in the live-action Tangled?
Rapunzel
This one comes as a bit of a surprise, but in a good way. Rising Australian actress Teagan Croft — who you may recognize as Rachel Roth from HBO Max’s Titans TV series — will play the plucky princess with magical blonde hair.
Prior to Croft’s casting, the frontrunner seemed to be Sabrina Carpenter, who even earned Mandy Moore’s approval (she voiced Rapunzel in the animated movie), StyleCaster reports. Avantika Vandanapu (Mean Girls, 2024) was also rumored to be screen testing for the role back in 2024, sparking a wave of racist hate against the actress for daring to play a white, blonde princess. We say her beautiful singing voice would definitely do the character justice, and if you don’t have anything nice to say, let it go (wrong Disney movie, but you get it).
Yahoo Entertainment reported that “according to popular internet scooper Daniel Richtman, Florence Pugh was the frontrunner to play Rapunzel in Disney’s live-action adaptation of Tangled.” The outlet says another internet gossip account on X called MyTimeToShineHello claims to have seen Taylor Swift’s name on a casting sheet for the part of Rapunzel.
Other popular fan casts included Emma Myers (Wednesday), Meg Donnelly (Zombies), and Dove Cameron (Liv and Maddie).
Flynn Rider
Could it be? Did fans... actually get their wish?! Milo Manheim (Zombies) by far appeared to be the most frequent fan cast for the part of Flynn Rider. And look who got the part! Honestly, with his haphazard wavy hair and strong jawline, it’s easy to see why.
Redditors also mentioned Austin Butler (Elvis), Derek Klena (Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin), and Fabien Frankel (House of the Dragon) as possible picks for the charming outlaw before the news of Manheim’s casting.
What about Mother Gothel?
For a while, Croft and Manheim were the only *official* casting announcements revealed, but if Disney listened to fans about those casting choices, it definitely listened when it came to the iconic villain.
Because Kathryn Hahn has officially been tapped to play Mother Gothel in the live-action Tangled.
In an Instagram reel in collaboration with Disney Studios, Hahn shows off her “OOTD” and reveals she’s wearing a Mother Gothel T-shirt. Her Instagram bio also now reads “mother knows best,” in reference to one of the more iconic villain songs in Disney movie history. Honestly, it’s perfection.
There were a lot of actresses rumored to take on this role, including Tracee Ellis Ross and Cher, but Kathryn Hahn has been rumored to be Mother Gothel for a long time, according to Yahoo Entertainment. She’s become a legend over the last two decades for her comedy work and then for her turn as Agatha in the MCU’s Wandavision and Agatha All Along, and fans are so excited to see her take on this fun, villainous role.
What else do we know about the remake?
Not a whole lot yet. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Kristin Burr (2025’s Freakier Friday, 2021’s live-action Cruella) is producing, and Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge, Thor: Love and Thunder) wrote the script.
More details to come, but with the incredible cast and crew already tied to Tangled, there’s really no way this movie doesn’t turn out amazing.
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