Our hearts skipped a beat when we were informed that Emma Watson will be playing the role of a Disney princess in Beauty and The Beast. She won million hearts when a preview of her look in the movie and her singing skills were released. While we cannot stop gushing over the actress in the movie, did you know this was not supposed to be her first chance to play a Disney princess? The actress was offered Cinderella, which she rejected.
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The 26-year-old actor turned down the role of Cinderella, which eventually went to Brit Lily James and grossed more than half a billion dollars worldwide, because she felt Belle was a better role model for young girls than Cinderella. In an interview to Total Film, where she is also featured in the cover of the magazine, she expressed that she connected better with Belle's character than that of Cinderella's.
"I didn't know they were going to make Beauty and the Beast at the time I turned down Cinderella. But when they offered me Belle, I just felt the character resonated with me so much more than Cinderella did," she felt.
It should not be of a surprise that the feminist actress chose Belle over Cinderella. Belle is independent, compassionate and open to different ideas, virtues that Watson is known to promote.
"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," Watson said.
"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. And that's the kind of woman I would want to embody as a role model, given the choice," she added.
Watson knows that her roles will affect the audience and thus she has been taking steps that not only boosts her career, but also promotes her real life ideas. Beauty and The Beast is set to premiere on March 17.
