Emma Watson has explained why she turned down the chance to star in La La Land.
The former Harry Potter star was originally set to appear in the Oscar-winning musical film alongside Miles Teller, with the lead roles eventually going to Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling. Stone won the Best Actress Oscar last month for her role as Mia in the movie.
Speaking on ITV’s Lorraine today (Monday, March 13), Watson explained that she pulled out of the film due to schedule conflicts with her upcoming movie, the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast.
“With a movie like Beauty and the Beast it’s like three months prep, it’s like three or four months shooting, it’s in the UK,” Watson explained.
“I had to be there to do that and, as I was saying before, you can’t half-arse a project like this – you’re in or you’re out. And I was like, ‘I’ve kinda got to be all in’, and so this was really where my heart was and I knew I had to fully commit and make sure that I did this.”
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Watson had previously been asked about La La Land. Speaking to SiriusXM, 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 really actually agreed or set in stone.”
She added: “[Beauty and the Beast] wasn’t a movie I could just kind of parachute into. I knew I had to do the work, and I had to be where I had to be. So, you know, scheduling conflict-wise, it just didn’t work out.”
In January, reports suggested that Watson and Teller were “raising hell” with their agents for not starring in La La Land.
Emma Watson recently appeared in a partially-topless photo shoot for Vanity Fair, leading to controversy and criticism from Beyonce fans.