"King's Speech" director to take on "Les Miserables"

[Thestral]

Hmm... Taylor Swift as Eponine strikes me as an unlikely/perhaps not the best choice. I could absolutely see her as Cosette, but Eponine? She does a nice bubbly-country and sweetness sound, but does Taylor have the chops for belting out "On My Own?" I really wish they'd gone with Lea Michele since she apparently auditioned and she does a damned good Eponine. We'll see how it goes, hopefully she surprises me - I want her to surprise me!

That article also offers some interesting other tidbits I don't think I'd known. According to Wiki, the cast as it stands now is:

Valjean - Hugh Jackman
Javert - Russell Crowe
Fantine - Anne Hathaway
Thenardier - Sacha Baron Cohen
Mme. Thenardier - Helena Bonham Carter
Marius - Eddie Redmayne
Enjolras - Aaron Tveit
Eponine - offered to Taylor Swift
Cosette - Amanda Seyfried in final negotiations.

Except for my Taylor Swift misgivings and not knowing who Redmayne or Tveit are (both apparently have solid theatre experience), this cast looks great IMO.

ETA: And I have no strong opinions about Seyfried as Cosette because I've never cared all that much about Cosette either way, to be honest. Taylor Swift as Cosette would be a win in my books, but oh well!

 

[Vanyel]

I wonder if maybe the mods could sticky this thread? So it won't keep getting resurrected.

I'm not happy with her either. On My Own, is one of the jewels, if not the center jewel, in this musical. I'd hate it if weren't belted out with the emotion that Lea Michele or Lea Salonga put into it; I' really hate if it had a country twang to it.

 

[nvek86]

What happened to Geoffrey Rush as Thenardier?
Cohen will probably be good in the role, he had a similar part in Sweeney Todd, but I was really looking forward to Rush's version.

 

[JarodRussell]

I was just thinking "Again?!" There has been the Liam Neeson version not too long ago. Yeah, yeah, 1998. But let me tell you something: The Big Lebowski, Armageddon and Saving Private Ryan are from 1998, too. The Matrix, The Phantom Menace and The Green Mile are from 1999. Time passes much slower now.

 

[CaptainCanada]

What happened to Geoffrey Rush as Thenardier?

That was rumoured, not official (though the Carter part came through).

Amanda Seyfried's a good choice for Cosette. Swift, I'm skeptical about, but presumably Hooper and co. think they can make it work.

 

[Hunter X]

I was just thinking "Again?!" There has been the Liam Neeson version not too long ago. Yeah, yeah, 1998. But let me tell you something: The Big Lebowski, Armageddon and Saving Private Ryan are from 1998, too. The Matrix, The Phantom Menace and The Green Mile are from 1999. Time passes much slower now.

The 1998 movie was an adaptation of the book. This one is an adaptation of the musical. People are going to see this one just as much for the songs as the story (as evidenced by concern over Swift's ability to perform On My Own).

Also, Carter as Mme. Thenardier is immediately easy to picture, great casting. The rest of the big names included should make this one quite the event when it comes out.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I'd rather they do an HBO miniseries or something.

A miniseries of a musical?

Miniseries based off the book. Something along the lines of The Tudors. I've never been much of a musical person.

I'd go for that. I've never seen the musical but I read the book (even tho I generally do like musicals). Seyfried is right on target with my idea of Cosette. The others are a much bigger stretch. Jackman is far, far, far too much of a hunk for Jean Valjean. Russell Crowe would be closer. They should flip those two roles.

 

[Thestral]

Swift, I'm skeptical about, but presumably Hooper and co. think they can make it work.

Pretty much how I feel on second thought. And she could certainly look the part of a thin, waifish undernourished young woman somewhere between Hugo's "pitiable creature" and the musical's Tragically Beautiful Hypotenuse.

The 1998 movie was an adaptation of the book. This one is an adaptation of the musical. People are going to see this one just as much for the songs as the story (as evidenced by concern over Swift's ability to perform On My Own).

Exactly. And, with all due respect to Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush who made a great Valjean and Javert, the late 90s movie was... rather lacking, especially with how it ended.

 

[DigificWriter]

I've seen the musical at least twice, and yet had absolutely no idea who the character of Eponine was, so I'm not really sure where this concern over Swift being cast in the role is coming from, although I do think she's more suited - based on who she is - to the role of Cosette.

I would've liked to have seen Geoffrey Rush as part of the cast, but as Javert, since I'd like to see how he'd handle the musical's version of the character after the brilliant (IMO, anyway) performance he turned in in the non-musical film back in '98.

 

[Vanyel]

Just to show what Swift will be compared to, Lea Salonga, as Éponine, singing On My Own.
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjfmP7h3gBw[/yt]

 

[DigificWriter]

Seeing that clip has reminded me who the character of Eponine is, but I'm still not seeing where the concern vis a vis Swift's casting is coming from. We really can't know whether or not Swift is/was the right choice for the role until we actually see/hear her in it.

BTW, Swift's maternal grandmother was an opera singer, and she (Swift) was involved in musical theater when she was younger.

 

[Vanyel]

But we do know how she sings. I just don't think she's got the range needed for Éponine. Hopefully I'm wrong. If On My Own falls flat, the movie will too.

 

[DigificWriter]

^ We don't know how she'll sing in this particular role, though. On My Own is admittedly a different style of song than she typically sings, but that doesn't mean that she won't be able to adapt and tackle it.

 

[Vanyel]

^Like I said, I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Thestral]

If On My Own falls flat, the movie will too.

That's a bit over the top. It's an excellent and important song (especially in terms of pop cultural impact), but it's not the most important in the whole show.

 

[DigificWriter]

^Like I said, I hope I'm wrong.

If you're going to be worried about anything in terms of Swift's casting, you should have questions about whether or not she can handle the acting part of the role, although I think it is even too early to have even those kinds of concerns.

Anyone who actually knows anything about music knows that you can teach somebody how to act, but you can't teach them how to sing. You can teach them how to unlock a talent for singing, but that talent has to be there in the first place.

We already know Swift can sing; we don't know if she can adapt the way she typically sings in order to accomodate a song the style of On My Own, but, knowing what I know about musical talent (coming as I do from a family that is very vocally musically gifted), I think it is far more likely that she'll succeed in adapting her singing style to accomodate On My Own than it is that she'll fail in doing so.

I'd also like to point out that the likelihood that the PTB behind the Les Mis musical movie cast Swift in the role of Eponine 'sight unseen' is rather slim; she had to have impressed them with both her acting and singing ability moreso than the other actresses who were up for the role, or else they wouldn't have picked her.

 

[Vanyel]

The same can be said about acting. A person either can act, because they have the innate ability to, or their ability to act was unlocked. Some people can't act, no matter the training they get.

The original production of West Side Story is a good example. They needed people who could sing, dance and act. They could find very few who could do all three and not enough to fill the rolls of Tony, Maria, Anita, Riff and Bernardo. So they took what they could, those who could sing and act. In the original production and revivals, some characters, those who can't dance stayed back and sang. The movie did the same, except they took those who could dance and act. In a movie singing can be dubbed in.

So I do hope Swift can act. I do think On My Own is a make it or break it song, as is One Day More, A Little Fall of Rain, Red and Black, Stars, I Dreamed a Dream, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables and Do You Hear the People Sing? A lot of songs need to be sung well and any one of those, or more than one, will ruin the musical.

The movie version of The Phantom of the Opera, fell when it's lead could not, in my opinion, sing The Music of the Night or Past the Point of No Return. It brought down the whole musical.

Éponine is important in four songs: On My Own, One Day More, A Heart Full of Love (Which I wouldn't be surprised if it were cut from the movie.), and A Little Fall of Rain. If she can't adapt her singing style or act, the musical is in big trouble.

A lot rides on Éponine's shoulders.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Really, isn't Swift's "You Belong with Me" the country-pop equivalent of "On My Own"?

Russell Crowe? Can he sing? Also, Australian Valjean and Javert, eh?

"Makin' movies! Makin' songs! And fightin' 'round the world!"

Radcliffe as Marius? My first reaction is he's too young, but he's 21 now and only 3 years younger than Michele, soo... that could work, assuming he can sing. I doubt he could pull off Enjolras, but maybe.

Daniel Radcliffe should play Grantaire, just for the hell of it.

Between "Beggars at the Feast" and "Dog Eat Dog," keep "Dog Eat Dog" - it's so sinister and drives home the "Miserables" part of the show.

Agreed that "Dog Eat Dog" is the more sinister piece. It's also a different tune, whereas "Beggars at the Feast" is basically a reprise of "Master of the House."

But from a pacing point of view, "Dog Eat Dog" is more vulnerable. By that point, you don't care about the Thenardiers. You want to keep the focus on the core 4-- Valjean, Javert, Cosette, & Marius. On the other hand, by the time you get to "Beggars at the Feast," it's a welcome return by a pair of beloved characters.

 

[Vanyel]

I wonder something, not about Swift as Éponine - big surprise - but how do you think they'll do the end? The Epilogue, like Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, brings back some who died. Part of the Epilogue is Valjean singing with Fantine and Éponine. And should the movie stay true to the stage musical, everyone joining in on the reprise of Do You Hear the People Sing? as the grand finale.

Any speculations on that, anyone?

ETA:
A side note, too bad they movie wont have this in it:
[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC5TqchAbwc[/yt]

 

[Thestral]

^ I don't see any reason why they'd change the Epilogue. Fantine and then Eponine coming to sing Valjean into heaven and join the chorus of the rest of the cast that have all died is pretty much the climax of the show, and could easily translate to film.

Really, isn't Swift's "You Belong with Me" the country-pop equivalent of "On My Own"?

Well, except that it's light, poppy and optimistic, not show-stoppingly dramatic, desperate, and ultimately accepting of fate.

Daniel Radcliffe should play Grantaire, just for the hell of it.

"Give me butterbeer on my breath, and I'll breathe them all to death!"

Agreed that "Dog Eat Dog" is the more sinister piece. It's also a different tune, whereas "Beggars at the Feast" is basically a reprise of "Master of the House."

But from a pacing point of view, "Dog Eat Dog" is more vulnerable. By that point, you don't care about the Thenardiers. You want to keep the focus on the core 4-- Valjean, Javert, Cosette, & Marius. On the other hand, by the time you get to "Beggars at the Feast," it's a welcome return by a pair of beloved characters.

Well, but then again Dog Eat Dog is plot critical - Thenardier taking the ring from Marius' "dead" body and recognizing Valjean before he runs off, whereas Beggars at the Feast really isn't (it's plot points are dealt with before Marius punches out Thenardier).