As it turns out, even Idris Elba still gets turned down for parts every so often. In a recent interview with People to promote his latest film, Hany Abu-Assad’s survival thriller The Mountain Between Us, the actor revealed that despite auditioning for this year’s live-action Beauty and the Beast remake, Disney decided to go in another direction.
While on the subject of musicals, Elba said, “I honestly love musicals. I auditioned for Beauty and the Beast. I really did, for Gaston. I called and said, ‘Listen, I want in!’ So somewhere they have a tape of me singing.”
The role of Gaston clearly went to Fast & Furious 6 and Dracula Untold star Luke Evans, who was widely considered to be one of the strongest performers in the film’s star-studded ensemble. No matter what criticisms were directed at the adaptation, few people had anything but kind words for the Welsh actor.
On if Elba has any feelings of discontent toward Evans, Elba joked, “No, only a little bit. No! I love you Luke, you know that.”
Those hoping to see the video of Elba belting out a few notes in front of Disney casting directors are out of luck, however, as the tape is not in his possession.
Beauty and the Beast currently reigns supreme as the highest-grossing film of 2017, with a domestic total of $504 million and a worldwide total of over $1.2 billion.
The past few years have seen the actor taking on parts in several studio blockbusters, including a number of Disney movies. In fact, Elba is one of the only (if not the only) actors to star in feature films from Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney’s live-action division, Pixar and Marvel. Between Thor: The Dark World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Zootopia, The Jungle Book, Finding Dory and the upcoming Thor: Ragnarok, he must be liked at the studio.
Elba may not have gotten to storm the Beast’s castle during its eternal winter, but he did do quite a bit of stumbling around in the snow alongside Kate Winslet in The Mountain Between Us; the movie hits theaters on October 6th.
Originally published September 30, 2017. Updated April 18, 2018.
