[Photo/Mtime]

"It was very important to me to preserve the beast's soul through the eyes," Stevens said. "It's kind of the last human quality that he has shining through."

As a father to three children with wife and singer Susie Hariet Willow (7), Aubrey (4), and Eden (10 months) Stevens has an added interest in balancing hard R-rated genre work with more family-friendly fare.

"I almost certainly would have said yes to this whether I had kids or not, but it is a big factor and informs some of my choices for sure these days," the actor said.

He would often bring his kids to the Beauty and the Beast set to see him in action.

"I love it when crew members or other cast members bring their kids on," he said. "It helps you remember why you're making it and who you're making it for."

It also made for some amusing observations from his children. Stevens' costume consisted of stilts and a cumbersome gray muscle suit that the visual effects people would eventually use to morph him into the Beast in postproduction.

"My daughter said I looked like a hippo," he said. "It helped with that Beast feeling of feeling monstrous and like he didn't fit in."

With four other projects in various stages of postproduction, from a role in a historical drama about Thurgood Marshall to the rom-com Permission and Legion's renewal for a second season, Stevens is doing what he's always wanted.

"I'm having a great time just exploring a number of different areas that I never dreamed I'd get to explore," Stevens said. "And, hopefully, slipping into some quite unrecognizable roles."

The Beast isn't a bad start.

Xinhua - AP