“There must be more than this provincial life ….”
In the original 1991 version of Disney’s animated Beauty and the Beast, the winsome, bookish Belle strolled through her village singing this lyric, a dreamer’s lament for escape and adventure. But in the new live-action remake (out March 17), Emma Watson delivers the line in a way that’s more urgent and heartbreaking than before.

This time, there’s more darkness at the edge of this provincial life.

In the new cover story for Entertainment Weekly, Watson reveals new details about Belle’s backstory – as well as her own. Both the actress and her book-loving character manage to defy expectations and break boundaries.

The Harry Potter star speaks about the real-life crossroads she faced in college about whether to continue acting, and the indie movie that made her believe movies might be a good way to change the world. (It also has a Beauty and the Beast connection.)

“I was like, ‘I have to tell this story. Oh my god if I don’t do this, nothing else makes sense,’” she recalls. “[It] made me feel that I had something else to give and offer.”

That’s how her version of Belle approaches the world, too. It may be a fairy tale, but it’s still a place where girls have to fight against impossible resistance for their own happily ever afters.

Read more and catch stunning new images below:

http://ew.com/movies/2017/02/16/beauty-and-the-beast-emma-watson-belle-beast-relationship/