"Perfect, a pure paragon," Gaston says to describe himself in "Beauty and the Beast." It's also an apt description for the actors Hugh Jackman and Luke Evans, who both have portrayed the Disney villain, and were tested to give their best interpretations of the character in a sing-off on "The Jonathan Ross Show."
The British talk show host challenged Jackman and Evans to sing the song "Gaston" from the 1991 Disney animated movie (as well as the stage production) and invited his other guests, Taron Edgerton and Shazia Mirza, to join in as the villagers. Ross handed each of his guests a mug of beer to help them get into character, but Edgerton was way ahead of him, immediately breaking into Le Fou's introduction of "Gaston."
Jackman played Gaston in a stage version of "Beauty and the Beast" in Australia and Evans can be seen in the role in next year's live-action version from Disney. Ross prefaced the face-off by saying the audience would choose "not who is the best Gaston, but certainly who is the best."
Judge for yourself below.
Evans will try to win the affections of Emma Watson's Belle in the live-action "Beauty in the Beast," coming to theaters on March 17, 2017. The movie, directed by Bill Condon, also stars Dan Stevens as the Beast/Prince, Josh Gad as Le Fou and Kevin Kline as Maurice.
Portraying the Beast's wait staff that turn into objects around the castle will be Ewan McGregor (Lumiere, the candlestick), Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Plumette, the feather duster), Emma Thompson (Mrs. Potts, the tea pot), Ian McKellen (Cogsworth, the clock), Audra McDonald (Garderobe, the wardrobe). Stanley Tucci will play Cadenza, a new character that is a grand piano.
Jackman currently stars opposite Edgerton in "Eddie the Eagle." The film is the true story of Eddie Edwards, an underdog British ski jumper who competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics.
"Beauty and the Beast" joins the long line of live-action remakes that Disney has already produced or has in the works. The studio has found success with "Alice in Wonderland," "Maleficent" (based on the villain from "Sleeping Beauty") and "Cinderella."
Coming up, Jon Favreau's film "The Jungle Book" will premiere next month and "Pete's Dragon" will hit theaters in August.
