<P> Susan Egan, who originated the role of Belle on Broadway, commented on the casting of Watson as "perfect". Paige O'Hara, who voiced Belle in the original animated film and its sequels, offered to help Watson with her singing lessons . </P> <P> According to The Hollywood Reporter, Emma Watson was reportedly paid $3 million upfront, together with an agreement that her final take - home pay could rise as high as $15 million if the film generated gross box office income similar to Maleficent's $759 million worldwide gross . </P> <P> Principal photography on the film began at Shepperton Studios in Surrey, United Kingdom, on May 18, 2015 . Filming with the principal actors concluded on August 21 . Six days later, co-producer Jack Morrissey confirmed that the film had officially wrapped production . </P> <P> The Beast was portrayed with a "more traditional motion capture puppeteering for the body and the physical orientation", where actor Dan Stevens was "in a forty - pound gray suit on stilts for much of the film". The facial capture for the Beast was done separately in order to "communicate the subtleties of the human face" and "(capture the) thought that occurs to him" which gets "through (to) the eyes, which are the last human element in the Beast ." The castle servants who are transformed into household objects were created with CGI animation . </P>

Where was beauty and the beast shot at