Emma Watson will next be seen as Disney’s iconic princess Belle in the studio’s reimagining of “Beauty and the Beast,” but now she’s still best known for embodying Hermione Granger in J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” movie universe.
It’s been six years since the last film installment, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” Asked if she’d she ever consider a return to the world of wizardry during a SiriusXS interview on Thursday, Watson teased: “Ask me in another 10 years.”
She also made sure to chide the host, Entertainment Weekly’s Anthony Breznican, for even going there. “You don’t what you’re doing,” she warned. “You’re causing carnage.”
During the wide-ranging discussion, Watson was also asked to clarify her rumored casting in “La La Land,” in the role that eventually went to Emma Stone, landing the famous redhead an Oscar.
“It’s one of those frustrating things when names get attached to a project early on to build anticipation before anything’s really set in stone,” said Watson. “It was one of those situations where I had been committed to ‘Beauty and the Beast’ for gosh, the idea of the project itself, for years.”
Watson explained that with all the training involved for the part of Belle (horse riding, dancing, singing), she had no choice but to pass on “La La Land.”
“‘Beauty and the Beast’ wasn’t a movie I could parachute into,” she said. “I knew I had to do the work.”
Watson was of course also called upon to address the inclusion of a gay character (Le Fou, played by Josh Gad) in Bill Condon’s “Beauty and the Beast” revamp that’s caused Russia to slap the film with an age restriction, and an Alabama theater to pull it altogether. The actress downplayed the whole thing.
“I think that’s what so fantastic about Josh’s performance — it’s so subtle,” Watson said. “Does he idealize Gaston? Is he in love with Gaston? What’s the relationship there? It’s incredibly subtle to be perfectly honest. I don’t want people going into this movie thinking there’s a huge sort of narrative there. There really isn’t. It’s kinda of a play on the audience. I love the ambiguity of that.. it’s really interesting.”
“Beauty and the Beast” opens wide March 17.