The Beautician and the Beast
The Beautician and the Beast is a 1997 American romantic comedy film directed by Ken Kwapis, written by Todd Graff, and starring Fran Drescher, Timothy Dalton, Lisa Jakub, Ian McNeice, and Patrick Malahide. It tells the story of a New York City beautician who is hired, under the false assumption that she is a science teacher, to tutor the four children of a dictator of a fictional Eastern European nation, played by Timothy Dalton. The film deals with the theme of cultural differences, and takes inspiration from other stories like Beauty and the Beast, The King and I, Evita, and The Sound of Music. Produced by Drescher's company High School Sweethearts in partnership with Paramount Pictures, The Beautician and the Beast was her first starring role in a film.
Theatrical release poster
Fran Drescher (pictured in 1996) developed and starred in The Beautician and the Beast.
Kenneth William Kwapis is an American film and television director, screenwriter, and author. He specialized in single-camera sitcoms in the 1990s and 2000s and has directed feature films such as Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird (1985), The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005), and He's Just Not That Into You (2009).
Kwapis in Los Angeles in 2008.
Book by Kwapis, released in 2020