January 13, 2022
Will 'Beauty and the Beast' Prequel Include a Gay LeFou? Josh Gad Spills Some Tea
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Josh Gad shared some details about the new series that will serve as a prequel to "Beauty and the Beast," in which bffs (or are they more?) Gaston (Luke Evans) and LeFou (Gad) will be featured.
"Josh Gad says the 'Beauty and the Beast' prequel show starts filming in Spring," Screen Rant reported, going on to note that the "fan-favorite duo" of Gaston and LeFou would be a major part of the new project, titled "The Little Town."
LeFou – characterized by ScreenRant as "flamboyant" – seemed to legions of fans (of Disney's 2017 live-action version of "Beauty and the Beast") to be in love with Gaston. As previously reported, that interpretation was shared by director Bill Condon, as well as co-star Ewan McGregor, who lent his voice to another of the film's characters, Lumière, a talking candlestick.
McGregor made no bones about his view of LeFou, telling "Late Show" host Stephen Colbert, "It's just like... he's a gay character. It's 2017. For fucks sake."
Luke Evans, though openly gay, posited a different reading, saying that LeFou simply hero-worships Gaston.
"There's a lot of authenticity there; they're like best buddies, they've been in each other's lives for a very long time," Evans told The Hollywood Reporter. "I remember when I was a young kid and I always looked up to my older friends and thought, 'Ah. One day I want to be like them. I want to play rugby like them.'"
Gad seemed to tease that the show would address just how friendly the two characters are in an interview with Variety's podcast "Just for Variety" last summer, saying, "You're going to have to tune in when this show airs to see what we're working up, but in the process of working on it, we're asking ourselves every relevant question about these characters and endeavoring to do right by them and by this world."
More recently, while talking with Comicbook about his new series "Wolf Like Me," Gad sang the praises of "The Little Town," saying that "the scripts are incredible, the music is unbelievable," and detailing that the series includes "all new songs by Alan Menken."
Screen Rant theorized that "The Little Town" "could potentially debut on Disney+ sometime early next year."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
