Luke Evans Talks BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Co-Star Emma Watson: 'She Epitomizes What Belle Should Be'

While speaking to MTV News this week at the Toronto International Film Festival in support of his upcoming film "High-Rise," Luke Evans spoke about Disney's highly anticipated big screen adaptation of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, saying singing is "a wonderful thing," and calling his co-star Emma Watson "wonderful."

"She's great," shared the actor. "She epitomizes what Belle should be in the 21st century to young girls; she's a strong woman. We all know Emma as Emma, a strong woman, she has a voice, she uses it very effectively and I admire her for that. She's brought some of that to Belle."

He continued, "She's not just a Disney princess, she's more than a Disney princess, and she has a beautiful sensitive side to her. She's quite delicate to look at, but she's not at all. She's a really strong, feisty woman and we have some fantastic scenes in the film. I was making her laugh more than she should have been laughing."

And to any naysayers out there, Evans confirmed that Watson also has the vocal chops to take on the musical role. "Great singing voice to boot. She's a triple threat. Makes me sick," he joked.

With production wrapping in August, Evans shares that his favorite scene from the upcoming musical is the iconic number "Gaston," in which he really gets to ham things up as his egotistical counterpart. "That took four and a half weeks, five weeks to rehearse," he explained. "I can't even tell you what's in the scene but believe you me it's beautiful. Josh [Gad] and I were very proud of the work that we put in, and it's fantastic. It was very sad when we finished the scene, because it felt that we'd shot a whole damn movie in the time."

"Beauty and the Beast" hits theaters March 17, 2017.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos