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‘It’s 2017.’ Ewan McGregor Has No Time for Fuss Over Beauty and the Beast’s ‘Gay Character’

2 minute read
By Melissa Locker

Ewan McGregor has a lot on his plate right now with both T2 Trainspotting and Disney’s live action version of Beauty and the Beast both hitting theaters on Friday. He’s a busy man and doesn’t have time for the fuss over the gay character in Beauty and the Beast.

McGregor, who plays Lumière, everyone’s favorite candlestick, in the Disney film, stopped by The Late Show and when Stephen Colbert asked him about the some of the controversy over Josh Gad’s character, Le Fou, who director Bill Condon said was gay, McGregor provided the vocal equivalent of rolling his eyes. “He’s a gay character!” McGregor told Colbert. “It’s 2017, for f–k’s sake!”

The real shocking revelation was that McGregor admitted that he has never seen the original animated version of the film. “I have never seen it, the original. Is it good?” McGregor asked. Colbert couldn’t quite believe the sacrilege he was hearing. “How could you possibly avoid Disney?” Colbert wondered. “How did you escape from the black hole that is ‘Be Our Guest?’”

McGregor tried to explain:

“It’s not because I didn’t want to,” he said. “It’s just…I don’t know. It wasn’t one that they watched, I guess.” He then continued to say that not seeing the original was good for his art. “It was quite handy, in a way, because when you’re going to play a part that’s so well known, it’s quite good if you don’t know it so it can be yours. I didn’t have to try and sound like the guy who did it in the cartoon in the ‘90s.”

Nice save, McGregor.

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