Beauty and the Beast Exclusive Interview With Audra McDonald

Judy: I’m here with the incomparable Audra McDonald. Welcome Audra: Thank you Judy: and thank you for taking the time Audra: My pleasure Judy: I do have to say I am a huge fan Audra: Thank you Judy: and you are on my playlist doing one of my favorites, Porgy and Bess Audra: aww, goodness thank you so much Judy: long before I knew I was going to be here Audra: Thank you, thank you Judy: The film…I don’t even know where to begin.

It is a fantasy brought to life. It is empowering, inspiring. What…as a mother, what would you want a little girl, or just a child, anyone to take from this movie? Audra: Well there’s so many messages, you know, that this film sort of brings home. First and foremost is that beauty is within you, you know and that’s what’s most important and not to judge a book by its cover but to look within into someone’s soul.

That’s obviously very important. The all healing power of love. And not only to learn how to love someone else but to learn how to love yourself and to learn to love what you have inside you and to realize there is worth in that which I think is a very big message and then also with Emma Watson at the helm of this film. She’s someone who takes her celebrity very seriously and so Emma wanted very much to make sure that Belle was someone that was not some damsel in distress that needed rescuing by any stretch of the imagination but that she’s some who is a bit of an activist.

She comfortable with being an outsider or someone different. She is out there trying to educate other little girls in her village. She’s the inventor and that she’s self-reliant. And that she has everything she needs within herself to move about in the world and actually if you look at it and you look at the film Belle rescues everybody else. Nobody has to rescue Belle.

Belle’s doing all the rescuing. That’s a very important message. Judy: Absolutely. Absolutely as you said with Emma Watson at the helm, who she is and I think that’s the case also with a lot of the cast… you…you know bringing to that I think that adds also another layer of that sincerity, that genuineness and she is the hero she does show everyone else how she can Audra: Yeah Judy: You can be yourself and have that Audra: Absolutely and celebrate who you are.

And that that’s enough. Judy: Absolutely. With all that you have done something not just with the content but with the scope and magnitude of this project and all the technological in different layers to it, how different was it to work on this project than other things you have done? Audra: You know in some ways it was very different, you know, that it’s a humongous film, you know, a Disney film, in terms of just the scope and the magnitude of what they were trying to do but in some ways it was very similar to a Broadway show for me because you had to rehearse cause there was so much music in it because you had someone like Bill Condon directing this film and he’s someone who comes from theater and then you had a lot of theater actors in it as well, you know, I mean maybe they’re known for their film work but Ian Mckellen and Kevin Kline and Emma Thompson comes from theater and Stanley Tucci has done a lot of theater, Josh Gad so in some ways it did feel like we were just doing a really big Broadway musical, you know Judy: Absolutely and this is wonderful for all the theater geeks out there Audra: Absolutely Judy: that are just jumping on board and to have to this come to screen, to life but it’s not just for the theater geeks.

Audra: No Judy: It’s not just those coming from the theater. It just I think this film even those who aren’t who completely enamored with the theater can just completely dive in. Audra: Absolutely, yeah Judy: because it has all that. Audra: you know, It has such a just a classic Judy: It appealed to everyone Audra: It appealed to everyone and that’s the magic of Disney that Disney appeals to the child within us as well as, you know, children itself so you always feel like a perpetual sort of enchanted child.

Judy: Yes, and that’s how you feel walking out of this film. Thank you so much for taking the time Audra: Thank you. My pleasure. It was nice to speak with you Judy: Pleasure, likewise