New 'Les Miserables' Trailer: Will Jackman, Crowe, Hathaway Sing Their Way To Oscar?
I'll admit I was a bit iffy on this whole live singing concept in Tom Hooper's epic Les Miserables film adaptation... until now. The new international trailer swells with emotion, as everyone from Hugh Jackman to Anne Hathaway, to Amanda Seyfried, Russell Crowe, and Eddie Redmayne warble Claude-Michel Schönberg's iconic tunes like their Oscar hopes depend on it. Which they do.
Hathaway's got the showy role in Fantine, whose "I Dreamed A Dream" was one of the first bits to leak onto the internet months back. Thank goodness for the new trailer, which shows that the rest of the ensemble is bringing their singing game to the streets of 19th century France, too.
We've got Jackman as Valjean, Crowe as Javert, Seyfried as Cosette, all of whom have been known to flex their vocal chords from time to time. Redmayne, who starred most recently in My Week With Marilyn and plays Marius, has yet to show off his pipes but apparently was a chorister at Eton College - not too shabby. Then there's Samantha Barks as Eponine, who'll probably blow everyone else in the cast away seeing as she's an actual West End star. (Remember when we thought Taylor Swift had the role in the bag? Oh, Internet.)
In any case, hope! Optimism! I know Les Mis is already going to steal all the Christmas movie-going dollars, but now I'm more convinced it'll be a repeat-view Oscar contender and not just a must-see for Broadway nuts. Color me a believer.
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Comments
Jen, yes, Samantha Barks comes from a music theatre background, but , also, Hugh Jackman & Anne Hathaway come from a strong music theatre background. Please, do proper research.
Hi TP - yes, everyone knows Jackman and Hathaway have done musical theater. Russell Crowe is in that band. Amanda Seyfried sang ABBA. Obvi. My point is Barks is the only one in this primary cast who is a dedicated musical theater performer; she's practically a professional Les Mis careerist if you look at her background. Which I have researched. I still think she's going to blow the rest of them away; I do not love Hathaway's trembly "I Dreamed A Dream," even if it's a deliberate choice made to blend with her dramatic performance, etc. etc.