Emma Watson clears the air on 'La La Land' casting controversy

Emma Watson, who was originally first chosen for lead role in ‘La La Land’, has come up to clear the rumours of her possible involvement with Damien Chazelle’s musical, saying due to “scheduling conflict it just didn’t work out.”

The 26-year-old actress is currently gearing up for the release of ‘Beauty and the Beast’.

Watson reveals that she felt her performance would not be best served by splitting time between Bill Condon’s fairy-tale adaptation and Chazelle’s tale about an aspiring actress in love with a jazz pianist, reported Entertainment Weekly.

“It’s one of these frustrating things where sort of names get attached to projects very early on as a way to kind of build anticipation or excitement for something that’s coming before anything is really actually agreed or set in stone,” Watson says.

Acknowledging that she had been committed to ‘Beauty and the Beast’ for years, Watson says, “I knew I had horse training, I knew I had dancing, I knew I had three months of singing ahead of me, and I knew I had to be in London to really do that.

“And this wasn’t a movie I could just kind of parachute into. I knew I had to do the work, and I had to be where I had to be. So scheduling conflict-wise, it just didn’t work out.”

The role ultimately went to Emma Stone, who won the best actress Oscar at 2017 Academy Awards for her performance in the candy-colored love story.