Girlfriend Australia — Autumn 2017

So there were lots of

versions but we got there in the

end and I think it just feels like

we’re in the heavens during

that dance. I feel like we’re

floating in a cloud and it’s

so romantic.

SO YOU HAD YOUR

OWN INPUT INTO

BELLE’S COSTUMES?

Yeah, I always have

input into my costumes.

They’re a very important

part of me creating my

character – it’s always

a really important part of

the preparation process too,

for me to get into the role.

WE HEARD TRADING BALLET

FLATS FOR BOOTS WAS YOUR

IDEA. WHY THE CHANGE?

Obviously an animated film is an animated

film, but a film set in a real-life setting

requires something different. Belle is

a horserider and works in her father’s

garden, and if you’re going to get on

a stallion in the mud and ride through

an entire forest to get to a haunted castle

that’s x number of hours away, you can’t

really do it in ballet shoes. You actually

have to be wearing something that you

can get on and off a horse in. I wanted

to make sure that what Belle is wearing

seems real, authentic and practical – and

something that you could believe Belle

was doing what she was doing in.

SO TELL US, DID YOU EVER DRESS

UP AS BELLE WHEN YOU WERE

A LITTLE GIRL?

I didn’t, actually. I was very into

Pocahontas, so I never had Belle’s yellow

dress, although I always had a thing about

the blue apron. I always liked the country

look. Rustic chic! I’d like to go and live

in Provence and carry a basket and eat

bread and cheese every day and wear

an apron. That sounds great!

WHY IS THE DANCE SUCH AN
IMPORTANT SCENE IN THE FILM?
There’s not a lot of scenes in which Dan
and I get to tell the story of Belle and
the Beast falling in love, and one
of the really big moments for that
is this dance that they do together.
It was a great bonding
experience. We got sweaty, we
stood on each other’s toes, we
made mistakes. It was really
sweet actually because I was
supporting Dan as much
as Dan was supporting
me, in the sense that
Dan was also on stilts...

IS IT TRUE THERE
WERE A FEW
VERSIONS OF
THE DRESS?
We had designed a very
traditional dress, which would
have been true to the time
period, but the material was
very heavy. Trying to get that to
do what it does in the animated
film, where the dress kind of
floats, I very quickly realised
that this kind of dress just wasn’t
going to work. It needed to be
light and chiffon so it could
do that floating thing.

It’s a story about seeing

deeper and seeing beyond the

superficial and the exterior,

and I think that really

resonates with people.

girlfriend.com.au 16 girlfriendMAG

ADDITIONAL WORDS

BREE PLAYER

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