Grammy, Oscar-winning singer-songwriter and overall queen H.E.R. is about to tell a tale as old as time. The performer is about to make herstory as the first Afro Filipina to play Disney heroine Belle on screen in the upcoming live-action/animated hybrid 30th anniversary special of Beauty and the Beast.
Presented by The Wonderful World of Disney, Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration will be executive produced by Jon M. Chu and directed by Hamish Hamilton. The special will include never-before-seen live musical performances paying homage to the timeless tale as well as new sets and costumes inspired by the Oscar-winning animated classic.
The two hour special will be taped in front of a live studio audience and air on ABC on December 15 before it streams on Disney+ on December 16.
Beauty and the Beast: A 30th Celebration is produced by Done+Dusted in association with Walt Disney Television Alternative and Electric Somewhere. Executive producers are Chu, Caitlin Foito, Hamilton, Raj Kapoor, Richard Kraft and Katy Mullan. Hamish Hamilton will serve as director. H.E.R. serves as a producer.
H.E.R. has enough Grammys to fill her mantle. Her debut album, “Back of My Mind,” was released in June 2021 and won the Song of the Year Grammy for “I Can’t Breathe.” H.E.R. is also no stranger to making history as she became the first artist of Filipino descent to win an Oscar for her original song “Fight For You,” from Judas and the Black Messiah. She is set to make her acting debut as Squeak in Blitz Bazawule’s upcoming Warner Bros. adaptation of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical The Color Purple where she will appear in an all-star cast that includes Fantasia Taylor, Colman Domingo, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Halle Bailey, Corey Hawkins, Phylicia Mpasi, Ciara, Louis Gossett Jr., David Alan Grier, Aunjanue Ellis as Mama, Tamela J. Mann, Deon Cole, Stephen Hill, Elizabeth Marvel, and Jon Batiste.
