Ewan McGregor Is Really Working That French Accent in Beauty and the Beast‘s Oscar TV Spot
“Mon amie, prepare to enter an enchanted world where you will be our guest!” announces Ewan McGregor’s Lumière, as we get a short look as the remarkable costumes and special effects of the upcoming live-action of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast.
The A-list cast of the Disney film is pretty remarkable, and though I’ve been most curious about Stanley Tucci’s new “neurotic maestro” character, McGregor’s Lumière has been another I’ve been looking forward to–mostly because “Be My Guest” is bound to be a visual and musical treat. The role of servant-turned-candlestick Lumière, originally voiced by Jerry Orbach, is somewhat outrageously French in comparison to the other characters, so it’s kind of fun to hear McGregor go all out with that hugely exaggerated accent. French speakers, let us know what you think! Amazing? Bad? So bad it’s good?
McGregor apparently had some initial trouble with the French accent, saying that after some quick accent-coaching, “My French didn’t really sound very French to begin with–it sounded a bit Spanish or something.” He explains that he recorded the whole part again during post-production, which he called “a nice opportunity” to “have another crack at all of it!” He has a pretty good sense of humor about the challenge, which you can see from this Graham Norton clip from 2015 where he jokes about flubbing the accent. Hopefully, we’ll be able to hear that first recording in a special featurette or something.
Beauty and the Beast comes to theaters March 17th. Are you going to check it out?
(via Slash Film, Image via screencap)
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