Beauty and the Beast will feature Disney’s first live-action interracial kiss

Beauty and the Beast will feature the first ever interracial kiss in a Disney live action film.

The groundbreaking moment will be between Stanley Tucci and Audra McDonald, who play Cadenza and Madame de Garderobe in the film.

Director Bill Condon revealed the news to BBC Radio 4’s Front Row, stating that the pair will in fact kiss twice:

“I didn’t give it a second thought, then at the preview, the [Disney] chairman told me that it was the first and second interracial kiss in a Disney movie. That shocked me. I was surprised it hadn’t happened before…. and they [Disney] were excited by that.” he said.

There have been interracial kisses in animated Disney movies before, such as Pocahontas, but never in live-action.

It was also revealed earlier this week that Beauty and the Beast would feature Disney’s first gay character. Condon told Attitude that Gaston’s sidekick LeFou, played by Josh Gad, develops romantic feelings for Luke Evan’s villain:

“LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston. It is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie,” he said.

Beauty and the Beast hits theaters on March 17th.