Naomi Scott said Princess Jasmine is a "multidimensional woman".
The 24-year-old actress has been cast as the fearless princess in Guy Ritchie’s live-action remake of the Disney classic ‘Aladdin’, and said there are "so many amazing new things" about her character.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Scott said: "There are so many amazing new things about the character in this adaptation – I could literally go on for an hour.
"Everyone involved in this project weren’t afraid to really just rip things down and start again, especially the Princess Jasmine character, because it’s so important to get that right. I love what Disney is doing at the moment with their princesses – going from animation to live-action and making those animated characters real human beings.
"Being a female character is also about being a real person and guess what? She can be strong and have fun, but also get it wrong and be emotional.
"She’s a multidimensional woman, and she doesn’t have to just be one thing. So in this movie, you see her go on such a roller coaster, as opposed to her one goal being to fall in love or get married."
Scott joins an impressive cast including Will Smith as The Genie, Mena Massoud as the titular street urchin and Marwan Kenzari as Jafar.
Former ‘Saturday Night Live’ star Nasim Pedrad has been chosen to play new character Dalia, a handmaiden and friend to Jasmine.
Scott said it was "crazy" in the 1992 original animation that Princess Jasmine was the only female in the entire film.
She said: "I never realised it, but in the animation, Jasmine is really the only female character – isn’t that crazy?
"The Dalia character is so important to this movie because she’s the only other female character. She may be the handmaiden but they’re best friends; they’re so close because they’ve grown up together.
"So we wanted people to watch the movie and see Jasmine’s relationship with another woman, and be like, ‘ah that’s what I’m like with my girlfriend’, or ‘we would so do that if I was in that position’.
"That’s something that’s missing from the animation."
The story is based on the Middle Eastern folk tale of Aladdin who is granted three wishes by a genie who is captive inside a magic lamp.
The 1992 original animated feature – which saw the late great Robin Williams voice The Genie – won two Oscars, Best Music and Original Song for ‘A Whole New World’.
‘Aladdin’ has also been turned into a hit stage show playing at theatres all over the world.
Naomi Scott’s new take on Princess Jasmine
