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Starring role in Disney’s live action Beauty and the Beast could help her bury past as Harry Potter’s magical swat for good
paltry £47 at the box office in its opening weekend in the UK.
An American report surfaced that Emma was “freaking out”, regretting her decision not to do La La Land after it received 14 Oscar nominations.
It suggested she had “crazy demands” during negotiations, such as insisting on rehearsals being in London so it wouldn’t disrupt her life too much or keep her away from her boyfriend of a year-and-a-half, entrepeneur William “Mack” Knight, 35.
On the set of Beauty and the Beast whispers of her feisty requests got out, with one insider saying: “Emma kept demanding changes to the ballroom dress from the cartoon version. Disney wanted a big, puffy dress. She was very anti that.”
BBC film critic Joe Michalczuk says: “There’s going to be a part of Emma Watson thinking, ‘It could have been me winning that Oscar for La La Land.’
“But Beauty and the Beast is going to be a massive movie and Disney are pulling out all the stops, they’re throwing money at all the premieres. It will be a huge success, one of the biggest films of the year.
“Emma is canny, she may have gotten more critical acclaim for La La Land but this will push her into the next bracket of Hollywood stars. She’ll be capable of holding a lead role, carrying a movie, bringing her into different territory. Commercially, for her career, this will be massive.
“Emma also knows that her modern take on Belle will be a great platform to let her talk about the issues she is interested in. She won’t be having too many sleepless nights over missing out on La La Land.”
Emma doesn’t always do herself any favours with her reputation of being a diva. When she won Elle magazine’s Woman of the Year award last month, she arrived 90 minutes late and barely stayed for an hour.
A source added: “Emma is high fashion and doesn’t like to be seen at showbiz events, she sees herself as above it.
“Rather than speak to well-wishers she’s been known to blank them on red carpets. Her assertiveness can be perceived as rude, especially in America.” Emma has been open about her dislike of red carpets and has blasted Hollywood for its focus on appearance. She said: “I worry about the expectation to look a certain way. I find LA scary – all those young people having plastic surgery. “The thing is, I don’t want to look like everyone else. I don’t have perfect teeth, I’m not stick thin. I want to be the person who feels great in her body and can say she loves it and doesn’t want to change anything.” Emma must have some self-confidence about her looks having fronted campaigns for fashion house Burberry and beauty label Lancôme. When she went off to Brown University in the US to study English literature, she had a low-key life, seeing the funny side when classmates threw her a Harry Potter-themed party. Talking about leaving behind Harry Potter, she once reasoned: “I’m prepared to wait it out. If it takes five years, it takes five years. If it takes more … I’m here for the long haul.” Hollywood, you’ve been warned.