Emma Watson was supposed to star in La La Land, but made ‘crazy demands’

Actor Emma Watson, who along with Miles Teller were originally being tipped to play Sebastian and Mia in La La Land, reportedly missed out on starring in the candy-coloured musical because their demands were too high.

La La Land starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling has tied the record for the most Oscar nominations in history after scoring 14 nods last week.

It was originally stated that Watson refused to star in La La Land because she wanted to make her singing silver screen debut in Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast.

And it has been reported for several months that Teller’s non-casting in the film was due to a pay dispute with director Damien Chazelle. The Hollywood Reporter claimed that the 29-year-old star wanted more than $4 million that was offered, and this figure has since been said to be $6 million.

Now, according to The New York Post’s column Page Six, Watson, 26, was not cast as Mia because of her “crazy demands”.

“Watson was offered the lead female role, but she initially wouldn’t commit. Then she began making all these crazy demands, like rehearsals for the film must be done in London- for a film called La La Land!

“They jumped through hoops to make it work with her, but she just didn’t feel the film was right for her. Producers finally cast Emma Stone- and once she was on board, Ryan Gosling jumped at the chance to work with her again,” a source said.

Watson and Teller are also said to have “freaked out” as the film has won a string of gongs and are expected to scoop a number of Academy Awards later this month.

“Now that it’s winning all the awards, they’re freaking out and looking for someone else to blame.”

Stone and Gosling have received nominations in the best actress and actor category for the film, respectively.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

First Published: Jan 31, 2017 13:46 IST