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After landing the role of Hermione in the “Harry Potter” films back in 2001, Emma Watson has spent more than half her life in the Hollywood spotlight and she doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon. The bright and beautiful Brit was just 10 years old when she got the big break, and this week she celebrated her 25th birthday on April 15th. Emma has not only impressed audiences with roles in films like the “The Bling Ring” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower,” she’s also grown up to be an academic, activist, and terrific role model. Cheers to this inspiring young actress! Let’s take a look back at her life so far in pictures for this week’s #TBT.
Tag: emma-watson
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#TBT: Emma Watson Through the Years
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‘Beauty and the Beast’ Now Has Release Date – Plus Emma Thompson, Kevin Kline
Be Disney’s guest to watch Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as The Beast in “Beauty and the Beast,” which will be released on … March 17, 2017. That’s almost exactly two years from now, so pencil it in your calendar and start sewing your own version of Belle’s yellow dress to wear to the premiere. (Don’t judge, it’s a good idea!)
In addition to the “Harry Potter” and “Downton Abbey” alumni, Deadline notes, the live-action “Beauty and the Beast” movie will star the amazing Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Kevin Kline as Belle’s father, Luke Evans as Gaston, and Josh Gad as LeFou. Top that cast! Production is said to begin in London in May.
Hopefully director Bill Condon and company can have as much success with “Beauty and the Beast” as another “Downton” star is now having with the live-action “Cinderella.” We’re guessing this one will do even better. (Don’t believe us? Ask the dishes!)
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‘Beauty and the Beast’ Gets Josh Gad
Things are coming up Disney for Josh Gad this week. Hot on the heels of yesterday’s “Frozen 2” news comes word that he’s very close to signing on the dotted line for the role of LeFou in Disney’s upcoming live action version of “Beauty and the Beast,” with Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as the Beast, and Luke Evans as Gaston. It’s safe to assume that this deal is a go, given Gad’s tweet earlier today.– Josh Gad (@joshgad) March 13, 2015
LeFou is Gaston’s dorky sidekick, and although Gaston treats him like garbage, LeFou is unwaveringly loyal and always ready to cheer up his bro or help out with a nefarious plan. Both Gaston and LeFou were written for the original animated Disney film.
It’s a good move to get Gad on board, especially since he’s got mad musical chops. Gad snagged a Tony Award nomination for his role in “The Book of Mormon,” and he took home a Grammy with the rest of his “Mormon” team for 2012’s Best Musical Theater album. And even though we usually associate Evans with 3D blockbusters, he can also carry a tune or two. Watson, on the other hand, sounds a bit nervous about singing onscreen. As for Stevens? Well, maybe he’ll be a ringer. That Matthew Crawley is a man of many hidden talents.
“Beauty and the Beast” will be directed by Bill Condon. Meanwhile, you can catch Gad on the FX show “The Comedians,” and in the Sony animated feature “Pixels” this summer.
[Via The Hollywood Reporter]
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Dan Stevens to Play the Beast in Disney’s ‘Beauty and the Beast’
Following yesterday’s pitch perfect announcement that Luke Evans had signed up to play Gaston in Disney’s live-action version of their groundbreaking animated fairy tale “Beauty and the Beast,” The Hollywood Reporter has made word that Dan Stevens, formerly of “Downton Abbey” and “The Guest” (one of our very favorite films from last year) has signed on to play the titular Beast. Stevens confirmed this news via the greatest tweet ever.– Dan Stevens (@thatdanstevens) March 5, 2015
Stevens will play opposite Emma Watson, who will essay Belle in the Bill Condon-directed feature (set to begin filming sometime later this year), and perfectly embodies the kind of charm and ferocity required of the character. Recently we spoke to Glen Keane, the Disney animator responsible for bringing The Beast to life, and he told us who he thought should play the character in the live action remake: Tom Hardy. A very good choice but obviously Mr. Hardy’s dance card is awfully full if he’s bailing out of big projects like DC’s “Suicide Squad.”
The original animated film, of course, was the first animated feature to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar (it’s only happened twice since then, with “Up” and “Toy Story 3” and both times after the more lax 10-nominations parameters were set in place). It spawned several direct-to-video follow ups and an insanely popular Broadway show that has been spun off in a number of different countries and languages. This big screen transition is said to retain the musical element. Expect the next bit of casting news to be very famous people lending their voices to the enchanted objects in the Beast’s castle lair…
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Hot Rumor: Ryan Gosling to Star in ‘Beauty and the Beast’?
Industry scuttlebutt can get a little imaginative, but this rumor is too tasty to pass up. The Tracking Board, a Hollywood insider site, posted that Disney has offered Ryan Gosling the role of Beast in their live-action version of “Beauty and the Beast.” It was just revealed Emma Watson has signed on for the role of Belle, and Bill Condon has been attached to direct since last summer, so it looks like pre-production is getting into gear.If there’s any merit to the story, it will be interesting to see Gosling return to his more Disney-friendly roots. The baby goose has been doing much edgier fare for the past few years, from roles in Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” and “Only God Forgives” to his directorial debut “Lost River.” We know he has leading man charm oozing out of his ears, and yeah, he can definitely sing and dance, so he would be a great fit for the role. Plus, while we totally respect his indie edge, well, it would be great to see him get swoony on the big screen once again. We’ll be keeping our eyes and ears open for more on this one!
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26 Reasons Emma Watson Is an Amazing Human Being
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There’s no denying it. Emma Watson is a shining beacon of wit, humility, charm, self-deprecation, and picture-perfect reactions. She always knows what to say and she says what she means. She started the #HeForShe movement, champions women’s rights, and is ivy-league educated. She also rules Twitter. In other words, she’s a straight-up amazing human being, and here are 26 reasons why.
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Emma Watson Cast as Belle in Disney’s Live-Action ‘Beauty and the Beast’
There is perfect casting and then there’s this — Emma Watson, best known as Hermione Granger from the “Harry Potter” films (and who has essayed tremendous roles in both “Noah” and “The Bling Ring” in the years since) will star as Belle in Disney’s live action musical version of their groundbreaking “Beauty and the Beast.”What’s interesting about this is that Watson was all set to play the same character in a Warner Bros production entitled “Beauty,” which was overseen by Guillermo del Toro. When del Toro left the project last June, Warner Bros started to waffle and Disney came courting the young star for their version of the story. (According to The Wrap, they did so with del Toro’s blessing.) This is going to be a big musical version of the story, very much in keeping with Disney’s animated feature, the first-ever to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.
This new production is being directed by Bill Condon, who wrote the Academy Award-winning big screen adaptation of “Chicago” and who wrote and directed “Dreamgirls” (it was Condon who pitched the live action version as a straight adaptation of the musical), with a script by “Perks of Being a Wallflower” writer Stephen Chbosky (Watson starred in Chosky’s filmed version of his best-selling novel). This movie is going to be huge; not only was the movie a commercial smash (almost $400 million worldwide in early-’90s dollars) and critical darling (it screened, in an incomplete form, at the New York Film Festival to a standing ovation) but it also inspired a musical that ran on Broadway for more than 5,000 performances (and has been staged in 115 additional cities).
Watson is also really excited, taking to Facebook to proclaim, ” “I’m finally able to tell you … that I will be playing Belle in Disney’s new live-action ‘Beauty and the Beast’! It was such a big part of my growing up, it almost feels surreal that I’ll get to dance to ‘Be Our Guest’ and sing ‘Something There’. My six-year-old self is on the ceiling – heart bursting. Time to start some singing lessons. I can’t wait for you to see it. Emma xx.”
We can’t wait to see it either, Emma!
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