Live-Action ‘Beauty And The Beast’ Casting: ‘Frozen’ Josh Gad Joins Emma Watson And Dan Stevens
Known as the voice of Olaf in Disney’s hit animated movie “Frozen,” Josh Gad is currently in final negotiations to return to Disney in Bill Condon’s live-action “Beauty and the Beast.” Joining the all Brits cast, Gad is the first American to join the ensemble cast with Emma Watson (“Perks of Being A Wallflower”) playing Belle, Dan Stevens (“Downtown Abbey”) as the Beast and Luke Evans (“Dracula Untold”) as the villainous Gaston.
The 34-year-old star is set to play LeFou, a bumbling and loyal sidekick of Gaston. The actor will be acting alongside Evans who will play the manly hunter. The duo are going to have their hands full as they are the one responsible of upsetting the quiet Beast in hope that Gaston will get Belle in the end.
Gad announced his involvement to the Disney remake with a comical side-by-side tweet featuring him and the animated LeFou. The actor is also set to reprise his role as Olaf in the short feature, “Frozen Fever,” to be feature before opening of live-action “Cinderella.” Disney shareholders announced on Thursday, March 12, that “Frozen 2” is currently in the works.
To be produced by David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman, live-action “Beauty and the Beast” follows a story of a young woman who replaced her father as prisoner in a castle owned by a monstrous beast. Like the classic Disney love story, the beautiful young lass fall in love with the creature who turns out to be a cursed prince.
“While sometimes Disney takes a more re-interpretative approach to its new takes on classic animated movies by giving them a spiffy live-action make-overs (a la “Alice in Wonderland” or “Maleficent”), in this case it appears the studio is aligning closer to the acclaimed 1991 original like it did with “Cinderella,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Meanwhile, Gad is starring alongside Adam Sandler and “Game of Thrones” star Peter Dinklage in Sony’s tentpole, “Pixels.” The “Wedding Ringer” star will be awfully busy this year as he is set to premiere the new FX show “The Comedians” alongside Bill Crystal on April 2015.
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