Disney’s Beauty and the Beast: Emma Watson reveals new backstory for Belle

Emma Watson will bring animated heroine Belle to life in 2017’s live-action ‘Beauty and the Beast’ – but she won’t be quite the same character we remember.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly (which also premiered these new images of the actress in the film), the erstwhile Hermione Granger actress explains that Belle has been embellished for this new take on Disney’s 1991 animated classic, from director Bill Condon (‘Gods and Monsters,’ ‘Dreamgirls’).

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

“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.”

The movie will see Belle’s father portrayed by Kevin Kline, whilst Dan Stevens (under a large layer of CGI) plays Beast, and Luke Evans and Josh Gad portray Gaston and Le Fou.

‘Beauty and the Beast’ opens in UK cinemas on 17 March 2017.

Picture Credit: Disney/EW