Emma Watson has revealed that she was meant to play a different Disney Princess – Cinderella.
The Harry Potter star plays Belle in the live-action re-make of the classic film, Beauty And The Beast.
“I didn’t know they were going to make Beauty and the Beast at the time I turned down Cinderella,” she said.
‘She’s not easily swayed’: Emma Watson thinks Belle is a better role model than Cinderella | Disney
The actress has revealed in a new interview with Total Film that she thinks Belle is a better role model than Cinderella, and as a result feels more comfortable in that character.
“But when they offered me Belle, I just felt the character resonated with me so much more than Cinderella did,” she said.
Emma explained, “She remains curious, compassionate and open-minded. And that’s the kind of woman I would want to embody as a role model, given the choice.
“There’s this kind of outsider quality that Belle had, and the fact she had this really empowering defiance of what was expected of her. In a strange way, she challenges the status quo of the place she lives in, and I found that really inspiring.”
Second choice: Lily James went on to star in the 2015 movie after Emma turned it down | DISNEY
Emma added, “She manages to keep her integrity and have a completely independent point of view. She’s not easily swayed by other people’s perspective—not swayed by fear-mongering or scapegoating.”
The Harry Potter star has worked with director Bill Condon and her version of Belle is an inventor like her father, and doesn’t wear corsets.
Lily James went on to star in 2015’s Cinderella, which was directed by Kenneth Branagh and also starred Cate Blanchett, Richard Madden and Helena Bonham Carter.
Meanwhile Beauty and the Beast also stars Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Sir Ian McKellen, Emma Thompson and Ewan McGregor, and hits cinemas on March 17th.
