Following on from the news that Luke Evans (Dracula Untold) is in talks to play the villain Gaston, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey, The Guest) has now signed on to portray the Beast in Disney’s upcoming live-action version of Beauty and the Beast.
Stevens will join Emma Watson (Harry Potter) as Belle in the film, which is being directed by Bill Condon (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn). The film marks the latest in a string of live-action remakes of its animated classics for the House of Mouse, and follows last year’s Maleficent, this month’s Cinderella and the upcoming The Jungle Book.