Emma Watson was offered Cinderella in 2015 and turned it down. Yep, she skipped the glass slippers before she wowed us as Belle. Wild, huh? Because she wasn’t feeling the “shoes and fairy godmother” vibe.
In a Total Film interview, Emma spilled the tea. “I didn’t know they were going to make Beauty and the Beast when I turned down Cinderella,” she said. But when the Belle offer came, she felt a severe connection. “The character resonated with me so much more than Cinderella did.”
And it’s easy to see why. Belle is more than just a pretty face in a ball gown. Emma saw her as someone curious and compassionate, and she was independent. “That’s the kind of woman I want to embody as a role model,” Emma explained.
But hold up, Emma didn’t just take the role of Belle and call it a day. She worked with director Bill Condon to turn Belle into an even bigger badass. This wasn’t a princess who sat around waiting for a rescue. Nope, she was about challenging the status quo and keeping her vibe. That’s the kind of princess you’d want to hang with.
And, of course, they had to make Belle even more extraordinary by giving her a whole new backstory. Instead of just reading books all day, Watson helped make Belle an inventor. “I was like, ‘Well, there was never very much information or detail at the story’s beginning as to why Belle didn’t fit in, other than she liked books,'” Watson said. So, she gave her a washing machine invention. Why not? Belle’s a mind for making things work, both in the real world and fairy tale land.
Looking back, Watson was definitely onto something. While Cinderella might’ve been a good fit for someone else, Belle would always be her role. She made the character her own, turning Belle into a princess we could admire. It’s no surprise that when Beauty and the Beast hit the big screen, Watson crushed it.
So yeah, while we’ll always love Lily James’ Cinderella, there’s no doubt Watson was the perfect choice to bring Belle to life in a way we never saw coming. Sometimes, turning down one role is just the universe’s way of making room for something even more significant.
