‘Belle was a departure from other Disney princesses’
EMMA Watson has promised her live action version of Beauty And The Beast is “unapologetically romantic”.
The Harry Potter star, 26, takes on the role of Belle in the re-imagining of Disney’s classic film but said she has fleshed out the character for a modern audience.
She said: “The wonderful thing about Belle is even in the original I feel like she was very progressive, she was kind of a departure from other Disney princess characters and so I think it was just finding where are the moments where I can fill in a bit more of her back story, where can I pad her out, and it was really fun to be able to do that.”
Arriving at the launch of the highlyanticipated film at Spencer House in London dressed in a dramatic Emilia Wickstead gown with a king train, she added that the film offers a salve in troubled times.
She said: “It’s pure joy this film, it’s unapologetically romantic and sometimes we need that and I think particularly now we need that, and you come out fuller than when you went in.”
Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens, who takes on the role of the prince turned into a beast, said he was surprised by how much some of the story felt important in the current political climate.
He said: “Considering we made this film two years ago there are now certain scenes that resonate in a way that we couldn’t imagine two years ago and it is strange but that is the magic of fairytales, sometimes they tell a lot of truths.”
The film, which also stars Sir Ian McKellen, Stanley Tucci, Welsh actor Luke Evans, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Kline, features Emma Thompson as the housekeeper-turned-teapot Mrs Potts.
The character was voiced by Angela Lansbury in the 1991 animation and Thompson said she went straight to her friend for her advice.
The Oscar winner said: “You have that reaction but then you think ‘I have to sing that song, that iconic song that Angela Lansbury made so famous and she’s really a singer’ so, because I know her, I was lucky enough to be able to ring her up and say ‘what am i going to do?’.”
Beauty And The Beast is released in UK cinemas on March 17.