Cruella’s Costume Designer Jenny Beavan Talks Working With Emma Stone and Emma Thompson

Disney fans are extra hyped for the upcoming Cruella movie, which is set to see Emma Stone step into the role of the famous villain from 101 Dalmatians. The new movie is a prequel to the puppy-napping tale we all know and love, and is set to see Cruella going up against Baroness von Hellman, who is being played by Emma Thompson. During a recent press conference for Cruella, costume designer Jenny Beavan talked about working with both Emmas.

"I know Emma Thompson really well, so I know how she sort of works and her body. But this was so specifically designed, in terms of, it wasn't so much of a collaboration other than that when we got the clothes to her, and she really loved them," Beavan shared. "She actually enjoyed the whole process of having something brand new for every fitting. So, it wasn't quite like some films I do which are totally collaborative with the actors 'cause this was very much dictated by the script. And the whole look of it was so important that I couldn't really do some of my normal collaboration. But it didn't matter. Because we all got on well. And they seemed to really enjoy what they were wearing."

Beavan continued, "Emma Stone I had never met before. But she's another wonderful human being. And it seems to embody and own the clothes when you put them on her. So, that was great. And in her first fitting, when we were going from the sort of, I suppose 20-year-old Estella, into the very last looks, that was exciting. Because we were trying them on with her. And therefore, she was totally collaborating and making as you work, which was great."

During the event, Beavan also revealed that she did not pull much inspiration from the fashion in the 1961 101 Dalmatians cartoon or the 1996 live-action remake starring Glenn Close. However, there were two characters whose looks from the cartoon did inspire Beavan and that's Jasper and Horace.

"I did look at Jasper and Horace, particularly in the animation, and felt that there was something lovely about the way they were drawn and their colors. So, I slightly brought that into Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser's costumes. But they were probably the most influenced in any way by the animation. I just wanted to sort of make sure that you could believe that, eventually, [Emma Stone] could become Glenn Close. That was about as far as my influence went."

Cruella will be released in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access on May 28th.