Los Angeles, Feb 2 (IANS): Actor Dan Stevens says he watched films like "Wreck It Ralph" to "Citizen Kane" to draw inspiration for his role of a beast in the upcoming romantic fantasy musical film "Beauty and the Beast".

"One of the biggest differences is that in the animated film you don't see the beast before he was transformed. You see a stained glass window version of him but there's no real sense of what he was really like," Stevens said in a statement.

"In this film, we see him at the debutantes' ball, and something that Bill (director Bill Condon) and I were keen to bring out was this sense of a petulant, spoiled child and the sense of entitlement which led to his downfall." 

"There's this psychological rationale about what makes a beast a beast, so I watched everything from ‘Wreck It Ralph' to ‘Citizen Kane' to help get me inspired," he added.

The Disney film, which also stars Emma Watson, Luke Evans, Josh Gad, Emma Thompson and Ian McKellen, is slated to release in India on March 17.