Dan Stevens is married to a singing teacher so I guess he could have some ability or practice, he has done theatre school too and they usually go hand-in-hand. Time will tell soon who will be cast for Beast the make up is well underway and they'll need to run a lot of tests and lock everything before before filming begins. Personally I am looking forward to the costume designer.
Out of all the non-musical talent rumors I've heard, Dan Stevens would make the most sense. Ryan G. , though a talented actor, would not be right for this particular incarnation of The Beast. Dan has a more majestic, fairy tale quality to him that works better for Disney's rendition.
He was also particularly fun in Night at the Museum, which proves he's game to do just about anything, which was awesome to see. TEAM DAN, ALL THE WAY!
Side note, re: my post about Redmayne. Turns out it wasn't Beast, but Gaston that Disney wanted him for. He passed, and I'm glad he did. Evans will be terrific.
EDIT: Or, maybe not:
"BTW, for all you fans of MEET THE MOVIE PRESS, Eddie Redmayne passed on the role of the Prince in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, not Gaston. Just FYI" https://twitter.com/TheInSneider/status/573259905982857216
Updated On: 3/4/15 at 04:28 PM
"New rumors are that none other than Matthew Crawley (ok, Dan Stevens) is now being pursued for the Beast. At least the age range is pretty good-- he's 32, but can easily read younger. Anyone know how well he sings?"
I saw Luke Evans in Rent, in the West End--late 90s. He was great, and can sing. He's also great, as links show, on the DVD of the UK version of Taboo. Good casting. I assume this solidifies the fact that he's back out of the closet? (I know he said something vague last year, and his wiki now says he's openly gay again when for a long time it went on about his girlfriend--for those who didn't know he was very out when he as a stage actor--even doing an interview about how much he liked gay porn, I think it had to do with some play about porn--and then when he and his agent decided to try for Hollywood suddenly they would try to erase as much as they could, mentioned he had a serious girlfriend--who I think may have been his agent--etc. Anyway, good for him.)
Great, another Disney production with mainly British cast (Emma Watson, Luke Evans, Dan Stevens) that will also be filmed in England (a la Maleficent, Into the Woods, Cinderella).
Why does Disney hate America(ns)?
Salve, Regina, Mater misericordiae
Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra
Salve, Salve Regina
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes
O clemens O pia
You have a good point. Nothing wrong with a British cast, but the characters are French. Will they speak in accents? It'll be like everyone in Les Mis.
So far it's traditional that Gaston has been played with an American accent, personally I never really notice accents if I am interested in the characters it's not at all distracting and it worked out well for Into the Woods then again I am Irish so hearing a localised version of BATB would be weird so we change our productions to the default American book.
As for filming in London it is probably easier and cheaper to use location shots that would otherwise be hard for the US to double as France. :)
Luke Evans has been seen to be dating Jon Kortajarena, the model so I assume he's out.
I think Dan is really inspired kind of out of the blue casting, I mean was he on anyone's list for this role? Anyone who's seen The Guest will know he's more than chubby Matthew from Downton.
I assume film in here in the UK is financially a better choice, ITTW proved there are places good for fairytale landscapes but it's a shame they're not going to France or Belgium (look at the BBC's The White Queen) which had some stunning landscapes that aren't over used for film & tv like a lot of places in the UK.
Accents - this is the common practice, and surely the reason is that American accents are perceived as 'modern' and certainly post the period of the piece which, while a fairytale, is essentially set pre-17th century. UK audiences would certainly have a lower tolerance of American accents in these cases.
Why don't you go? Why don't you leave Manderley? He doesn't need you... he's got his memories. He doesn't love you, he wants to be alone again with her. You've nothing to stay for. You've nothing to live for really, have you?
With the exception of Angela Lansbury and David Ogden Stiers, the film's vocal cast was all American. I don't think they worried about the American accents then.
CORRECTION: David Ogden Stiers is American as well, but he used a British accent as Cogsworth in the film. None of the other characters did that. (Lumiere was French however.)
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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