Emma Watson thinks Josh Gad's "subtle" performance in 'Beauty and the Beast' is "fantastic".

Emma Watson

Emma Watson

The 26-year-old actress - who plays Belle in the new live-action version of the fairytale - has heaped praise on her co-star for his portrayal of LeFou, Disney's first openly gay character, and the way he has made it so it isn't entirely clear whether or not he has a crush on his friend Gaston [Luke Evans].

Speaking in a SiriusXM Town Hall interview with Entertainment Weekly's Anthony Breznican, she said: "I think that's what's so fantastic about Josh's performance is that it's so subtle.

"It's always like, 'Does he idolise Gaston? Is he in love with Gaston? What's the relationship there?'

"I think it's incredibly subtle, to be perfectly honest. I don't want people going into this movie thinking there's a huge narrative there."

Elsewhere during the interview, Emma admitted she was frustrated about reports that claimed she had turned down Emma Stone's Oscar-winning role in 'La La Land', insisting she had been committed to 'Beauty and the Beast' for such a long time, it would have been impossible for her to appear in the Hollywood musical too.

She said: "It's one of these frustrating things where names get attached to projects very early on as a way to kind of build anticipation or excitement for something that's coming before anything is actually agreed or set in stone.

"But it was one of those situations where I had been committed to Beauty and the Beast at that point for...years. And I had to be where I had to be, and scheduling conflict wise it just didn't work out."

Director Bill Condon previously admitted 'Beauty and the Beast' features a "nice gay moment", and also praised Josh for his "subtle" performance.

He said: "LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston. He's confused about what he wants. It's somebody who's just realising that he has these feelings. And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that's what has its payoff at the end, which I don't want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie."

Tagged in