Credit: Beauty and the Beast
The 2017 Beauty and the Beast live-action remake is a movie many people were so excited to see. The original Disney film was released almost 26 years before the live-action version, and it’s one with a massive following. The idea of this movie is a simple one, but it’s the books and the songs and the characters that make it so lovely. It’s also a good lesson about falling in love with someone because of their personality rather than their outward appearance. It’s the story of unexpected love and a broken heart that makes a man heinous inside and out, and the casting of Emma Watson to play Belle was genius. Here is everything you did not know about the 2017 Beauty and the Beast live-action movie.
1. Emma Watson Turned Down a Major Role to Play Belle
Do you remember the movie La La Land, starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone? The movie was critically acclaimed, and many people loved it. My family? We did not love it. We couldn’t watch more than the first 20 minutes before. We couldn’t do it anymore. It’s a subjective opinion considering millions loved it, and it was nominated for an Oscar. The point here, however, is that Emma Watson was originally asked to star in La La Land, not Emma Stone. However, Stone was offered the role when Watson chose to turn it down to play Belle. She wanted Beauty and the Beast.
Additionally, in a secondary touch of irony, Ryan Gosling was in La La Land, but he was asked to play the part of the Beast in Beauty and the Beast. He turned down a role in the Disney film to do La La Land. It was a whole thing and could have been quite interesting either way.
2. Almost the Entire Cast is So Famous
Even though they only had a quick moment to appear as themselves on screen, the entire cast of this movie is beyond famous. We’re talking about the best of the best in Hollywood. Audra McDonald plays the wardrobe. Ian McKellan plays Cogsworth, the uptight clock. The romantic candelabra named Lumiere is played by none other than Ewan McGregor. Even Mrs. Potts is played by the icon Emma Thompson. Everyone who is anyone in the business knew they wanted to be a part of this historic film.
Credit: Beauty and the Beast
3. Belle’s Dress Took Some Serious Time
When one is discussing custom couture, one often thinks of the most expensive, most famous designers in the world. But what about wardrobe for a movie such as this one? When Emma Watson dons the famed yellow gown to wear dancing in the library with the Beast, she has to look just like the character in the animated movie. As a result, the gown she wore – beautiful and perfect – took costume creators more than 12,000 hours to make. That’s a dress that should be worth a fortune.
4. The Iconic Dance Scene Took Months to Prepare For
Not only was the dress its own character in that scene, but the dance also took excruciating rehearsal time for both Watson and Dan Stevens. He was the beast in this movie and had to wear stilts. She was wearing this beautiful big and heavy gown, and she had to dance a perfect waltz with a man on stilts who was almost three feet taller than her while dancing. It took months of rehearsals to get it just so, and Watson said she was still nervous when it was time to do the big scene. She was a bundle of nerves, but we can assure her she looked like absolute beauty and elegance.
Credit: Beauty and the Beast
5. The Original Beauty and the Beast Song Has a Shocking Story
Everyone knows that the talented, iconic Angela Lansbury is the original Mrs. Potts. This time around, she’s played by Emma Thompson, but Lansbury is the woman who sings the original song Beauty and the Beast. Three decades ago, when she sang the song for the movie, she did so in one take. And she did it after being awake all night following a harrowing experience. She was on a flight to New York City when the flight turned into a terrifying situation. There was a bomb threat on the flight, and she was on it. The rest of the cast had no idea that this happened to Lansbury. They merely knew that her plane was delayed, and she arrived from an overnight flight that kept her up directly from the airport to sing the song. Then she turns around and does it in one take.
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