We just checked the cast list and there is someone there that wasn't there before!
On Feb. 7, Rita Ora took to Instagram to announce that she has joined the cast of Disney+'s new Beauty and the Beast series. The working title prequel—starring Luke Evans and Josh Gad—is set years before Beauty and Beast's love story, and follows Gaston (Evans) and LeFou (Gad) on an unexpected journey with LeFou's stepsister, Tilly (Briana Middleton).
Ora will star as a fugitive with surprising abilities who carries unknown knowledge that could potentially affect an entire kingdom.
"I can't keep the secret any longer!" the British singer wrote on Instagram. "I'm beyond excited to be joining the cast of the Beauty and the Beast prequel series!"
Along with some current photos, the actress, who previously starred in the Fifty Shades movies as well as episodes of 90210 and Empire, posted a picture of her younger self dressed as Belle. "As a child, I remember watching Beauty and the Beast with my family over and over and immediately falling in love with the music and characters," she shared. "Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined joining this fairytale world."
And according to Gary Marsh, the CCO of Disney Branded Television, this prequel will answer some hard–hitting questions Disney fans have had for years.
"For anyone who's ever wondered how a brute like Gaston and a goof like LeFou could have ever become friends and partners," Marsh said in a statement in June 2021, "or how a mystical enchantress came to cast that fateful spell on the prince-turned-beast, this series will finally provide those answers… and provoke a whole new set of questions."
Ora basically just said, "Who'd have ever thought that this could be?"
Production for Disney+'s Beauty and the Beast prequel series is set to begin this Spring.