LionsgateIn the face of La La Land‘s success, the Hollywood rumour mill is churning, inevitably.
While the film’s Oscar-nominated stars – Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone – are the talk of tinsel town, darker rumours are spreading about the two discarded actors who were initially billed to play the leads.
Emma Watson – the beloved British actress better known for her role as Hermione Grainger in the Harry Potter franchise – and Miles Teller, of Whiplash fame, were both let go due to artistic differences, according to Page Six sources.
GettyOne movie insider told Page Six:
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.
The same insider claims Miles Teller also lost out due to his fee demands, saying:
Miles was offered $4 million to star in La La Land, but he said he wanted $6 million. Now both Miles and Emma Watson are raising hell with their agents for not securing the roles for them — even though it was the actors’ fault for being too demanding.
While there was conflict over Teller’s involvement after director David Chapelle – the brains behind Whiplash – dropped him, the information provided by the Page Six source is unconfirmed.
In fact, Emma Watson has been tied up with filming Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, which is set for release in March, not to mention her demanding schedule of activism as a UN Women Ambassador and role model.
Both actors in question are represented by the agency, CAA, who declined to comment.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.