Movies | Pop Culture | 90s
Live-Action 'Aladdin' Star Reveals How Different The Remake Will Be
Disney's live-action version of Aladdin is scheduled to come out in May 2019, but right now we are still trying to figure out how they are going to adapt the iconic characters. We have been wondering how they would handle some of the more fantastical elements from the cartoon, but it turns out that even the characters themselves will be changing.
The Hollywood Reporter recently interviewed Naomi Scott, who will be playing Princess Jasmine, and she had a lot to say about the changes that have been made to her character. She said that "there are so many amazing new things about the character in this adaption - I could literally go on for an hour!"
Scott said that they "weren't afraid to really just rip things down and start again, especially the Princess Jasmine character, because it's so important to get that right."
The live-action Aladdin will also feature Mena Massoud as Aladdin, Will Smith as the Genie, and Marwan Kensari as Jafar. They have also announced two new original characters that will join the cast. Nasim Pedrad will play a handmaiden named Dalia and Billy Magnussen who will play a prince.
Scott had a lot to say about how Disney transformed Jasmine from an animated character in a "multidimensional woman"...
“I love what Disney is doing at the moment with their princesses — going from animation to live-action and making those animated characters real human beings,” Scott said of the reboot, "Being a female character is also about being a real person, and guess what? [She] can be strong and have fun, but also get it wrong and be emotional. She’s a multidimensional woman, and she doesn’t have to just be one thing. So in this movie, you see her go on such a roller coaster, as opposed to her one goal being to fall in love or get married.”
Scott is excited for the live-action version of Jasmine, especially because of the new handmaiden character that has been introduced.
“I never realized it, but in the animation, Jasmine is really the only female character — isn’t that crazy?” she explains. “The Dalia character is so important to this movie because she’s the only other female character. She may be the handmaiden but they’re best friends; they’re so close because they’ve grown up together. So we wanted people to watch the movie and see Jasmine’s relationship with another woman, and be like, ‘Ah, that’s what I’m like with my girlfriend,’ or ‘We would so do that if I was in that position.’ That’s something that’s missing from the animation.”
Scott shared that the two have been getting along great on set. “We’re just obsessed with each other, I adore her. She’s hilarious and amazing, and as soon as we started working together, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, why haven’t we known each other for so many years?!’”
Scott hopes that her version of the character will show people a lot more about Jasmine then we have seen before, including her future potential. “You really get in this adaptation of the movie that her heart is for her people, and her main objective is what’s best for her kingdom,” she says. “And you really get a sense that she has those leadership qualities within her.”