Emma Watson was originally offered another Disney princess to portray in another movie remake a few years back. However, she turned down the offer. The second time around, she has accepted to play Belle in the upcoming remake of the classic Disney movie "Beauty and the Beast." So everyone else just got curious: why choose to be Belle if she could have been Cinderella?
More like a 'Belle' than a 'Cinderella'
Cinema Blend revealed that Watson was offered the role of Cinderella before by Disney. But as it is, the ""Harry Potter"" actress turned down the role - not for any apparent reason at that time since the upcoming live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast" is not yet in the making. The second time around, Disney came back and offered Watson another role; this time to become Belle. Watson agreed and pointed out that Belle is a character that she can connect with a great deal more than being Cinderella.
In several interviews, Watson revealed that Belle has more interesting aspects than portraying the girl who met her prince charming and lost her glass slipper, Yahoo has learned. She also noted that Belle has a kind of "outsider quality" and "empowering defiance" that she found challenging and really inspiring. Both of these qualities made Belle a really good character to portray with a strong integrity and a complete independence that she will not let any other people sway her that easy. There are also talks that Watson worked with "Beauty and the Beast" director Bill Condon to make her character even more dynamic in the story.
'Beauty and Beast' comes out in March
"Beauty and the Beast" will be out by March 17 and is one of the most anticipated films of the year. The trailer itself, which was released last year in November, broke records with 127.6 million viewers in just one day upon its release. After turning down the opportunity for Kenneth Branagh's "Cinderella," the actress Lily James did the part and made a success of showcasing a stronger Cinderella than the one in the classic tales.