I learned something today: the best way to start a week is with a viewing of the first trailer for the live-action Beauty and the Beast. My goodness if the world Disney re-created for the film isn’t gorgeous. Like previous live-action adaptations, it appears as though they’re staying true to elements we know and love from the animated film, but with some alterations. Members of the cast stopped by Facebook Live to talk about one difference, as well as to answer some fun questions.
Emma Watson (Belle), Dan Stevens (Beast), Luke Evans (Gaston), Josh Gad (Le Fou), and director Bill Condon gathered to participate in a live fan Q&A via the Beauty and the Beast official Facebook page. One fan asked if the live-action film would show an aspect of the Beast we’ve never seen before. Stevens said, “We see a little bit of his backstory and learn a little bit more about this vain, spoiled, rich kid.”
Condon added, “Everybody brought so much to the characters, but for [Dan], he was a sophisticated man who had a sense of humor. I think that too—the fact that he tells very smart jokes all the time.”
Watson agreed, “That, to me, was the biggest difference. The Beast that’s in our version is incredibly witty and has this very dry, English sense of humor.” I’m so into that as it’s not a trait explored much in the animated film.
Onto other topics, a fan asked Watson and Stevens whether about the challenges of singing and dancing, and which was easier to master. Stevens said, “The good thing about the dancing is we had each other.” But Watson had to watch her toes.
She said, “The hardest thing was not looking down at my feet, which I was terrified were about to be broken by the steel tapped hoof things that he was wearing.” She joked the note she received most often was, “Emma, stop looking at your feet!”
Nevertheless, the dance was magical. Gad said that a bunch of the cast had come to set to watch the iconic sequence, and they got chills. “It was that definite moment where this is exactly what we’d dreamed of,” he said. “‘This is the moment where we know the film is going to work.’ It was so magical. The two of them had been working so long and so hard at it, that them bringing it to life gave us all an enormous sense of pride.”
On a more amusing note, the cast member answered a question about one trait they share with their respective characters. Stevens said he gets pretty grumpy when he’s hungry, Gad said he breaks into song when he needs to say something, Watson said she gets really excited about libraries and books, and Evans said he likes eggs.
If you have 20 minutes to spare today, watch the Q&A. You won’t regret it:
Important question: if you could be any household object, what would you be? Tell us in the comments or come over to Twitter and tell @Nerdist.
Featured Image: Disney
Hear the latest Beauty and the Beast details below
