*R&B superstar H.E.R. has been cast in the lead role of Belle in ABC’s live-action remake of “Beauty and the Beast.”
“I can’t believe I get to be a part of the Beauty and the Beast legacy. The world will see a Black and Filipino Belle!” said the Grammy-winning artist (whose real name is Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson), Revolt reports. “I have always wanted to be a Disney princess, and I get to work with two wonderful directors Hamish Hamilton and my favorite, Jon M. Chu. It is very surreal, and I couldn’t be more grateful.”
In his own statement, Chu, 42, shared what H.E.R. will bring to the project. “With her obvious extraordinary talent and stage presence, H.E.R. is the perfect embodiment of our Belle and we are thrilled for audiences to see her in this celebration of creativity,” Chu said, PEOPLE reports.
This year marks the 30-year anniversary of the original “Beauty and the Beast.”
READ MORE: H.E.R. Sues Recording Company Over ‘Significantly Limited’ Contract
“We were both influenced as storytellers by the original animated movie, so it’s very exciting to collaborate together to honor the artistry of that timeless classic while also inspiring a whole new generation of creators,” Chu said.
ABC’s “Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration” will air on Dec. 15.
In related news, H.E.R. fans can catch the singer in the 2023 Warner Bros. adaptation of “The Color Purple.” As reported by Variety, the forthcoming movie musical is an adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical by Marsha Norman, Brenda Lee, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, which was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning epistolary novel by Alice Walker.
Directed by Blitz Bazawule, the upcoming film follows the classic 1985 film adaptation by director Steven Spielberg. The story centers on Celie, a Black Southern woman who struggles to find her identity amid decades of abuse. Whoopi Goldberg played Celie in Spielberg’s film.
Spielberg’s film was a box office success, grossing $142 million against a budget of $15 million.
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