JD McCrary is all smiles on the red carpet at the premiere of The Lion King on Tuesday (July 9) at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, Calif.
The singer/actor sported a gold and black outfit as he was joined at the premiere by his co-star Shahadi Wright Joseph.
JD and Shahadi play the younger versions of Simba and Nala in the live-action remake. Donald Glover and Beyonce voice the characters once they are older.
The Lion King will be released on July 19. Make sure you check out the full cast photo here!
Fun fact about Shahadi Wright Joseph: she actually played Nala on Broadway before nabbing the role in the upcoming live action The Lion King film!
The 13-year-old actress chatted with PopSugar recently and opened up about bringing the character to life once again.
“It was a little bit more challenging than when I was on Broadway because when you’re on stage, you can move around and you can actually see the person talking to somebody else,” Shahadi admitted about the role. “What I learned from the voiceover was that I could really try and put all of that confidence into my voice so that young Nala can sound authentic.”
She adds that she’s “really excited for this because Nala’s such an inspiring character. I’m excited to . . . really put my own energy into it this time.”