Emma Watson Reveals Her Biggest Concern About ‘Beauty & The Beast’

Emma Watson has admitted that she originally had some qualms about signing up for Beauty & The Beast, as she questioned whether or not her character of Belle actually suffers from Stockholm-syndrome in the film.

The 26-year-old made this admission to Entertainment Weekly, via E! Online, confessing that after reading the script she had an issue with her potential role in Beauty & The Beast because she wondered whether or not Belle was suffering from the issue.

“It’s something I really grappled with at the beginning: the Stockholm-syndrome question. That’s where a prisoner will take on the characteristics of and fall in love with the captor.”

However, after much consideration Emma Watson realized that Belle didn’t possess any of the attributes that victims of Stockholm syndrome are afflicted with.

In fact, the former Harry Potter actress explained that her Beauty & The Beast character is the complete opposite as she actually fights back against her captor.

“She has none of the characteristics of someone with Stockholm syndrome because she keeps her independence; she keeps that freedom of thought. I also think there is a very intentional switch where, in my mind, Belle decides to stay. She’s giving him hell. There is no sense of ‘I need to kill this guy with kindness.’ Or any sense that she deserves this. In fact, she gives as good as she gets. He bangs on the door, she bangs back. There’s this defiance that ‘You think I’m going to come and eat dinner with you and I’m your prisoner—absolutely not.'”

Emma Watson then explained how the relationship between Beauty & The Beast is different to other cinematic romances, noting that the titular duo actually become friends first and build a genuine bond before they embark on their relationship.

“The other beautiful thing about the love story is that they form a friendship first. There is this genuine sharing, and the love builds out of that, which in many ways is more meaningful than a lot of love stories, where it was love at first sight. They are having no illusions about who the other one is. They have seen the worst of one another, and they also bring out the best.”

Emma Watson also discussed the character of Dan Stevens’ Beast and why Belle is able to develop such an intimate relationship with him, explaining that she’s able to recognize a good in the character that has been damaged because of his past and needs to be restored by Belle.

Emma Watson even discussed why Belle would pick the Beast over Gaston (Luke Evans).

“I think she can see in Beast that there’s someone who has been fundamentally good who has been damaged and who just needs rehabilitating. He is just in need of love, whereas Gaston is someone who has had nothing but love and admiration and easiness, and because he’s never suffered, he doesn’t have any empathy. He’s essentially a narcissist, and it’s very difficult to intervene in that. He’s about building himself up while pushing others down. With Beast, you can tell he’s being unkind because he’s unkind to himself.”

Beauty & The Beast is one of the most anticipated films of 2017. The original trailer for the live-action remake of the 1991 hit animated film, which was the first of the genre to gain an Academy Award Best Picture nomination, was watched over 91.8 million times in just 24 hours. This made it the most watched in history, while its fellow trailers have been just as popular, too.

We’ll get to see if Beauty & The Beast can live up to and match this potential when it’s finally released on March 17, 2017.

[Featured Image by Disney]