Luke Evans shares exciting Beauty and the Beast prequel update - RadioTimes

The Welsh star is reprising his role as Gaston for the Disney Plus series.

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Published: Sunday, 21st February 2021 at 11:10 am

Luke Evans’ larger-than-life performance as Gaston in 2017’s live-action Beauty and the Beast was easily one of the highlights of the film – and the Welsh star is set to reprise the role in prequel series The Little Town.

The Disney Plus show will follow the origins of Gaston and his sidekick LeFou, with Josh Gad reprising his role as the latter, and Evans has shared an exciting update about the project.

Speaking to Collider, he revealed he knew when production was set to start – although he admitted he was not yet in a position to give any information away.

“I do, but I’m sworn to secrecy,” he said. “We are not allowed to talk about it, but it’s progressing very well.”

Evans further divulged that some “very exciting decisions” have been made recently, adding that “everybody is excited about it.”

“I think it’ll be a very entertaining journey through the past story of these characters,” he continued. “And also there will be many new characters that you’ve never met before, which is very exciting.

“It’s coloured with incredible characters and creatures that we are very excited about bringing to life.”

The six-part musical Beauty and the Beast prequel series was first announced back in March 2020 and will take place many years before the events of Beauty and the Beast, with composer Alan Menken – who worked on the original Disney film – set to write the show’s musical numbers.

The series is created by Once Upon A Time creators Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz alongside Gad – whom Evans says he has been speaking to about the project on a regular basis.

The 2017 Beauty and the Beast film, which starred Emma Watson and Dan Stevens, was a major hit for Disney, making more than $1.2 billion (£856 million) at the worldwide box office and earning a positive reception from fans.

It was based on the classic 1991 animation, which had been the first ever animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

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