Emma Watson Puts Feminist Spin on Her Beauty and the Beast Character

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By WENN




Emma Watson has put a feminist spin on her character in the upcoming remake of Beauty and the Beast.

The British actress plays Belle in Disney’s upcoming live-action adaptation of the classic 1991 animation, and has now revealed to fans the book-loving protagonist has a new backstory.

In the original, Belle is a bookworm, and the daughter of Maurice, a local bookseller and quirky inventor. Indeed, it is while traveling to sell his latest brainwave, a wood-chopping machine, that Maurice winds up imprisoned at the Beast’s enchanted castle.

However, Emma and the screenwriters weren’t satisfied with the original backstory, and have now made Belle an inventor, while her father, as played by Kevin Kline, is a music box craftsman.

“In the animated movie, it’s her father who is the inventor, and we actually co-opted that for Belle,” Emma 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?’

Dan Stevens stands tall as The Beast and #EmmaWatson dons the signature blue dress as Belle in this exclusive #BeautyAndTheBeast photo. ❤️ 📷: Laurie Sparham/Disney

A photo posted by Entertainment Weekly (@entertainmentweekly) on Nov 2, 2016 at 12:02pm PDT

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.”

The Bill Condon-directed film’s set decorator, Katie Spencer, added that Maurice’s music boxes are an important element of the mise en scene, and add another dimension to Emma’s character.

She explains the music boxes are made to represent different countries of the world, and work to indicate Belle’s isolation within her hometown.

Offscreen, Harry Potter star Emma, 26, is building a reputation as a gender activist after creating organization HeForShe with the United Nations and starting a feminist book club. Beauty and the Beast, which co-stars Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, Josh Gad and Ewan McGregor, is due to be released in theaters in March next year.

[deebakes]

i'm assuming rbp will be watching this for us and screen cap anything that would be worth seeing

[DemonGeminiX]

Emma Watson doing a film about bestiality...

[Muddy]

You think she can handle that big animal dick? It doesn't seem plausible to me.

[RBP]

While in the real world, nearly every invention that automated housework and were the largest catalyst to women being able to work outside the home were all invented by men.

[RBP]

i'm assuming rbp will be watching this for us and screen cap anything that would be worth seeing

Nope. The internet will do that for me, but there won't be anything.