Dan Stevens thinks ‘Beauty and the Beast’ touches on a "classic Disney theme".
The 34-year-old actor, who stars as the Beast in the much-anticipated new movie, has admitted that the Bill Condon-directed film is alluring, in part, because of its exploration of the issue of absent parents.
He explained: "It’s a classic Disney theme, absent parents. Dead mothers and fathers all over the place!
"That really occupies a lot of fairy tales. The absent parent, and what is that filled with? If you have that missing element in the equation, what fills that? What influences it? For good or ill."
Dan, who stars alongside Emma Watson in the new movie, said that the theme is one of the pillars of Disney’s success.
He told Den of Geek: "It is fascinating. It’s what makes them great family movies that you look at that dynamic: what is there, what isn’t there, and what might be there in the absence? Sometimes a cautionary tale, but also sometimes a reminder of the value of that kind of parental love."
Meanwhile, Emma recently admitted a "scheduling conflict" with the making of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ was to blame for her not taking on the leading role in ‘La La Land’.
Emma, 26, was originally attached to the leading role in the musical – which eventually went to Emma Stone – but she rubbished suggestions that her "crazy demands" are the reason she didn’t get the part.
Emma recently said: "[‘Beauty and the Beast’] wasn’t a movie I could just sort of step into. I knew I had horse training, I knew I had dancing, I knew I had three months of singing ahead of me and I knew I had to be in London to really do that.
"This wasn’t a movie I could just kind of parachute into. I knew I had to do the work, and I had to be where I had to be. So, you know, scheduling conflict-wise, it just didn’t work out."
Dan Stevens: Beauty and the Beast explores a classic Disney theme
