'Beauty And The Beast' Adds A Feminist Backstory To Emma Watson's Belle
The actress truly is perfect for this role
In Disney's original Beauty and the Beast, Belle is the daughter of an inventor and spends her days reading books. But it has now been revealed that the new, live-action remake will give Belle a completely new backstory in which she is the inventor.
"In the animated movie, it's her father who is the inventor, and we actually co-opted that for Belle," Emma Watson told Entertainment Weekly.
"I was like, 'Well, there was never very much information or detail at the beginning of the story as to why Belle didn't fit in, other than she liked books. Also what is she doing with her time?'
"So, we created a backstory for her, which was that she had invented a kind of washing machine, so that, instead of doing laundry, she could sit and use that time to read instead. So, yeah, we made Belle an inventor."
Disney hinted at the new storyline in one of its preview images released this week, showing her and Maurice with a table covered in music boxes, her father being the music-maker.
Those boxes will also play a role in the movie. The set decorator Katie Spencer added: "Kevin Kline as Maurice is making all these music boxes that have to tell the story of Belle not travelling.
"She's overprotected in a way, by her father, because she's lost her mother. So, we've made all these music boxes that represent different countries of the world, so she can see what she's missing."
Alongside Watson and Kline, the movie will also star Dan Stevens as the Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, as well as Audra McDonald, Stanley Tucci and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Beauty and the Beast is out cinemas on 17 March 2017.
From: Harper's BAZAAR UK
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