Thoughts on LES MIS Film Casting (Part Three): And All the Rest...

"Never among animals does the creature born to be a dove change into an osprey. That is only seen among men."

- Victor Hugo (III.8.iv)

Day Count: 84

Page Count: 743

Just over the halfway point in Les Miserables and I am as entranced with it as I was when I began. I have recently been reintroduced to the character of Eponine (at least, I assume that's who she is) and the story is progressing well. This particular part of the novel seems altogether new to me, as it addresses aspects that are rarely - if ever - touched on in the adaptations of the novel I've seen. That's been exciting to experience.

But there are still a few more characters to highlight in my "Thoughts on LES MIS Film Casting" series (which has between the first two posts, drawn almost 120 people to this sight - more than any single post since I started this blog back in October of 2010) and I wouldn't want to disappoint anyone who absolutely MUST hear my ramblings. So, without any further ado, here we go!

Aaron Tveit will play the revolutionary Enjolras.

The first time I saw the musical Les Miserables, I didn't much care for the role of Enjolras, the leader of the revolutionary Friends of the ABC (which, in French is pronounced ah-bay-say, or abaissé which, in English, translates to 'the abased'). The character seemed like little more than a stuffed shirt, a static headstrong idealist. And I'd pretty much felt that way consistently... until I saw the 25th Anniversary Concert and the performance of Canadian actor-singer Ramin Karimloo.

Ramin's performance in that concert was the an eye-opening experience for me in that I realized that Enjolras could be a character played with depth and dimension beyond that of "I'm headstrong and idealistic." When it came to an actor that, for me, embodied the role, I really could think of no one better than Mr. Karimloo.

Hooper, Mackintosh, and company, however, decided on heartthrob actor Aaron Tveit for the role. Much like Eddie Redmayne, their choice for Marius, I know little-to-nothing about Tveit or his work. Having seen none of his television and film work and being unfamiliar with his theatrical endeavors, I had to go digging for information.

Apparently, Tveit is best known for guest roles on shows like Gossip Girl and Ugly Betty as well as originating roles in critically-acclaimed Broadway musicals like Next to Normal and Catch Me If You Can. He's also performed in revivals of Wicked (Fiyero), Hairspray (Link), and Rent (Roger). With this kind of Broadway star power, it seems likely that Tveit should have little to no problem with the role of Enjolras.

Film newcomer Daniel Huttlestone will play Little Gavroche the gamin.

I will admit that I do not know a great deal yet about the character of Little Gavroche, as my reading in the text has yet to lead me to a great many details about him. The character I know from the musical, however, is a loveable scamp, living life on the streets, the life of a gamin - a life which Hugo goes to great lengths to capture in the novel.

Like the character of Gavroche, it's difficult to know much about nine-year-old Daniel Huttlestone who has recently been cast in the role. Huttlestone has made a bit of a splash playing the role of Nipper in the UK revival of Oliver! opposite Rowan Atkinson's Fagin. According to The Daily Mail, Huttlestone captured the attention of the audience immediately, which more than likely lead to his casting in Les Mis.

I don't have a problem with child actors per se... it's just that most of the time, their performance takes away from the overall film. You can tell they are children reading lines rather than children experiencing what's going on with the film. The few child actors that have managed to do something substantial or lead to an audience to believe they are experiencing what they're meant to be experiencing grow up and become fair-to-mediocre performers. 

I remain reticent of Huttlestone's casting until I see the film. Granted, the role of Gavroche, to my mind, will be less without the full version of "Little People" (as sung in the Original London Cast Recording). This song comes practically right out of the novel, from Hugo's discussion of the gamin (urchin) of Paris, and - to my mind - expresses one of the major themes of the novel: the plight of les miserables, the miserable ones, the downtrodden, the oppressed, the abaissé. To take it out of the musical subtracts an important thematic element from the show. (Just my opinion, though. What do I know? I'm just a community theatre actor and classic lit enthusiast.)

George Blagden will play the frequently inebriated Grantaire.

Grantaire, one of the Friends of the ABC, is a bit of an anomaly amongst the group. While the others firmly and adamantly believe in the cause they are fighting for, Grantaire exhibits the nihilistic tendency of believing in nothing. No, what brings Grantaire to the group is his profound admiration of Enjolras, an attraction that Hugo explains thusly:

"Grantaire admired, loved, and venerated Enjolras. To whom did this anarchical doubter ally himself in this phalanx of absolute minds? To the most absolute. In what way did Enjolras subjugate him? By ideas? No. Through character. A phenomenon often seen. A skeptic adhering to a believer is as simple as the law of complementary colors. What we lack attracts us. Nobody loves the light like a blind man. The dwarf adores the drum major. The toad is always looking up at the sky. Why? To see the bird fly. Grantaire, crawling with doubt, loved to see faith soaring in Enjolras. He needed Enjolras. ... Instinctively, he admired his opposite." (III.4.i)

 While this doesn't necessarily come across in the musical (Grantaire is used predominantly for comic relief amid the idealistic Enjolras and lovesick Marius), it is too great a character aspect to pass over. While the only thing I've seen of George Blagden - the actor cast to play him - is this short film on YouTube, he is currently playing the sure-to-inspire role of Soldier #1 in Wrath of the Titans.

Original London & Broadway Valjean Colm Wilkinson will portray the Bishop of Digne.

It happens almost all the time. Whenever successful musicals get converted into movies, the producers try to appeal to fans of the original production by casting members of the original cast in the show. Whether it's Brad Oscar (the original Franz Liebkind) as the cab driver in The Producers or original Velma Kelly Chita Rivera playing an inmate in Chicago, there's something of a precedent. This is why it was something less than surprising when it was announced that the man who originated the role of Jean Valjean both in London and on Broadway, Colm Wilkinson, was to be cast as the Bishop of Digne.

While the Bishop of Digne is a relatively minor role in the musical - singing in only two songs, "One Parole" and "Valjean Arrested, Valjean Forgiven" - he is the person that kick-starts the entire action of the entire story. I do have to say, as I've mentioned before, that the Bishop of Digne has become one of my favorite literary characters and one of the most accurate examples of ideal Christianity that I have ever seen depicted in literature. This may be the one role that I'm not in the least bit worried about. Colm was the Valjean and he is going to bring the full force of his passion, intensity, and incomparable talent to the role of the Bishop of Digne.

Well, that's all I've got to say on the subject. Agree? Disagree? Just want to make your voice heard? Then, by all means, feel free to comment or, if you want to follow my progress-through-quotes of my own reading of Les Miserables, feel free to follow me on Twitter, @HurdlingHugo. Thanks for reading!

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Read the rest of this series:

- Part One: Valjean, Javert, Fantine, and Eponine

- Part Two: Cosette, Marius, and the Thenardiers 

Thoughts on LES MIS Film Casting (Part Two): Cosette, Marius, and the Thenardiers

"In this state of reverie, an eye looking deep into Marius's soul would have been dazzled by its purity. In fact, were it given to our human eye to see into the consciences of others, we would judge a man much more surely from what he dreams than from what he thinks. There is will in the thought, there is none in the dream."

- Victor Hugo (III.5.v)

Day Count: 80

Page Count: 693

Yesterday, I posted my thoughts on the primaries in the upcoming Les Miserables musical film adaptation. Within a day, it became one of my most-viewed posts on this blog - getting over 50 views in just two days. (As a point of comparison, my most popular blog to date - "My Russian Transformation" - has just over 100 views. With that kind of response, I knew I couldn't wait too long before starting up the second installment. With that having been said, here goes nothin'!

Rising star Amanda Seyfried will portray Cosette. Will she be able to make it work?

I liked up-and-coming starlet Amanda Seyfried since I saw her in the first season of "Veronica Mars" as Kristen Bell's deceased wild-child best friend. I also liked her in "Big Love" as Bill Paxton's eldest, conflicted daughter. However, when it came to film roles, I began to get very disappointed. The films I did end up seeing her in (Mamma Mia! and Alpha Dog) were not very good, though she managed to turn out a halfway decent performance. The other films she was in - the ones that she's 'known' for these days, like Red Riding Hood or Jennifer's Body - looked so horrid that I had absolutely no desire whatever to see them (appearance by Gary Oldman and script by Diablo Cody notwithstanding).

Here's the problem I have with the role of Cosette in the Les Mis musical: she's not the one you're rooting for. In the book, Cosette is a child brought from the most haggard circumstances imaginable into relative piece and security. You feel her abuse. In a musical condensing a 1400+ page novel, you don't have TIME to develop that suffering... especially not with a song as lilting and lullaby-like as "Castle on a Cloud." The extent of her suffering - as far as we see in that song - is that she has to sweep floors, doesn't have toys or friends, gets yelled at, gets lost, cries, and has to get water from the well by herself at night. Also, that she doesn't get to see nice, soft ladies dressed in white that tell her they love her and sing lullabies.

This is not the suffering she goes through in the book! We're talking a little girl who is worked so hard she doesn't know how to play, is ignored and abused by the daughters of the Thenardiers, and is so petrified of "the Thenardiess" that fear of her alone will keep the girl still and quiet while she and Valjean are on the run from Javert. The Cosette from the book is the epitome of pitiable, while her musical counterpart is living the life of luxury by comparison.

This only becomes a problem when the love story angle is brought into the story. We don't want Cosette to get the guy because she's not the abused underdog she is in the book... Eponine is. It is her character that captures the hearts and minds of the audience, not Cosette's. We don't love her and, for that reason, we find her annoying.

All that to say that, while I'm certain that Amanda Seyfried could sing and act the role, I'm not sure that having her play this particular part is a good enough use of her talent. My hope is that she can bring something likeable to the character... but I'm not sure even she can manage that.

Tony Award-winning actor Eddie Redmayne will play Marius.

Eddie who?! I'm not going to lie to you, I have no idea who this guy is. Not living in New York, I've not seen his Olivier and Tony Award-winning turn as Ken in Red (2010 Best Actor in a Supporting Role). I've also only seen one of his film roles (as Edward Wilson, Jr. in The Good Shepherd), but I won't lie, I don't remember him (or much of the rest of the movie for that matter). Still, his film/television resume looks solid (My Week with Marilyn, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and "The Pillars of the Earth"), but I've yet to hear a decent clip of him singing (outside of those "Do You Hear the Cast/Actors Sing?" videos on YouTube). I'll have to wait this one out...

...not that Marius is all that compelling a character anyway (at least in the musical - like with Cosette, most of his interesting character stuff got stripped in the conversion from book to musical). Yes, Michael Ball nailed it in the original, but if Nick Jonas can get cast and manage to convince someone other than teenage girls that he can pull off the role, then I'm sure this Eddie guy will be fine.

Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen will portray M. Thenardier. Should I worry?

This is where I feel like I'm going to start getting into really personal territory. Thenardier is my favorite role in Les Mis and has been since I first experienced the musical as a college freshman. Of all the roles in this epic show, it's the one I would most like to play myself. I have a vision for the role and, to be honest, it's based almost entirely on the performance of one Alun Armstrong - the original British Thenardier and, to my mind, the only true Thenardier. Sure, Matt Lucas did a decent job at the 25th Anniversary Concert, but it's Armstrong who really made the role everything that it could be.

Then we get to Golden Globe winner Sacha Baron Cohen. Sure, I thought "Da Ali G Show" and Borat were pretty funny, but didn't bother to see Bruno and still need to see Hugo. That having been said, we've seen the guy sing as Signor Pirelli in Tim Burton's hit-and-miss adaptation of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and, while he's not awful, he's hardly strong enough to be singing that role. Should he be singing Thenardier? I can't help but wonder... This is the role I'm most worried about, to be sure.

Tim Burton staple Helena Bonham Carter will play Mme. Thenardier (a.k.a. the Thenardiess).

And finally (for now), we have Helena Bonham Carter, wife of 'quirky' director Tim Burton and two-time Academy Award nominee (for The Wings of the Dove and The King's Speech). While Helena is certainly not a bad actress (having great turns in the aforementioned films as well as Fight Club and the TV miniseries "Merlin"), I certainly wouldn't peg her as one of the best of her generation. In terms of singing, I really was not all that impressed with her work in Sweeney Todd. (Of course, who can be after hearing the immortal Angela Lansbury or the incomparable Patti LuPone perform the role?)

Sure, Carter plays the skeezy, greasy woman better than just about anyone else... but she is not Mme. Thenardier material. In the book, Hugo describes her as such:

"Since her first appearance, the reader perhaps remembers something of this huge Thenardiess - for such we shall call the female of this species - tall, blond, red, fat, brawny, square, enormous, and agile; she belonged, as we have said, to the race of those colossal wild women who pose at fairs with paving-stones hung in their hair... Her broad face was covered with freckles, like the holes in a skimming ladle. She had a beard. She had the look of a market porter dressed in petticoats. She swore splendidly;  she prided herself on being able to crack a nut with her fist... This Thenardiess was a cross between a whore and a fishwife." (II.3.ii)

 With the exception of perhaps the 'agile' and 'swearing' comments, I can't think of any of these characteristics which describe Helena Bonham Carter. But you know who they do describe? Jenny Galloway! Don't know who she is? Check out the clips of Alun Armstrong and Matt Lucas above - she's playing Mme. Thenardier in both of them. She's also been in the original cast of Mamma Mia! and has played in productions of My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, Sweeney Todd, and Oliver! She's the easy choice for this role as far as I'm concerned. No, she's not a big name star like Helena, but she has more than proven that she can knock this role out of the park!

"Wait... 'Elena 'oo?!"

 Alright, Hugo, musical, and film aficionados! That's all she wrote for this evening! Next time, I'll dig into the roles of Enjolras, the Bishop of Digne, and - if I can - Gavroche and Grantaire. Let me know if you agree or disagree with my assessment by commenting below. Keep up with my thoughts on reading Les Miserables by following my Twitter account - @HurdlingHugo! Until next time... stay thirsty, my friends!

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Read the rest of this series:

- Part One: Valjean, Javert, Fantine, and Eponine

- Part Three: And All the Rest... 

Thoughts on LES MIS Film Casting (Part One): Valjean, Javert, Fantine, and Eponine

 "...there are many great deeds done in the small struggles of life. There is a determined though unseen bravery that defends itself foot by foot in the darkness against the fatal invasions of necessity and dishonesty. Noble and mysterious triumphs that no eye sees and no fame rewards, and no flourish of triumph salutes. Life, misfortunes, isolation, abandonment, poverty, are battlefields that have their heroes; obscure heroes, sometimes greater than the illustrious heroes."

- Victor Hugo (III.5.i)

Day Count:  78

Page Count: 688

I won't lie - much of my exposure to Les Miserables prior to this year had little-to-nothing to do with Victor Hugo's initial work. That is to say, I'd been exposed to adaptations rather than the original text.

My first exposure was the 1998 film starring Liam Neeson as Valjean, Geoffrey Rush as Javert, Uma Thurman as Fantine, and Claire Danes as Cosette. I watched scenes from it in my eleventh-grade Bible class during a study on Paul's epistle to the Romans. It was interesting to contrast the major themes of Romans - grace vs. the Law - with the themes of Les Mis, particularly the forgiveness of Valjean juxtaposed with the by-the-book lawfulness of Javert. While there were elements of the film I enjoyed, I definitely felt that there were things lacking... but I didn't really notice to what extent until I discovered the Les Mis musical in college.

My freshman year at Olivet Nazarene University, the student theatre organization - Green Room - took a trip up to Chicago to see the touring company of Les Miserables. I was entranced. From top to bottom, this was more or less the best show I'd ever seen. I was particularly enamored with the role of Thenardier (and still not-so-secretly hope to play it someday, despite my less-than-stellar singing ability). I ended up seeing the musical again my senior year at ONU and getting the soundtrack (Original London Cast, of course!).

So, when I found out that, after 25 years, producer Cameron Mackintosh was FINALLY making the musical into a film, I was... well, I was nervous. Musical films made within the last several years have been incredibly hit-or-miss. They're either incredibly well-received (Chicago, Dreamgirls, Hairspray, Sweeney Todd) or... something less than stellar (Nine, Rent, The Phantom of the Opera, Mamma Mia!). As a fan of both great movies and great musicals, I know that Les Miserables could stand to make either one of the best (or one of the worst) movie musicals in recent memory.

Academy Award-winning director Tom Hooper is set to direct the Les Mis musical adaptation... for which he probably hopes to win another of those glittery statuettes.

 Mackintosh and company have assembled an all-star cast, led by director Tom Hooper. Hooper was a relative unknown in America until last year when his film The King's Speech took home Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Actor for its star Colin Firth. However, Hooper had already developed an impressive resume by directing The Damned United and the John Adams TV miniseries for HBO.

I understand Hollywood's desire for all-star casts. Honestly, I do. You have to get butts in seats, otherwise it doesn't matter how good your movie is, no one will see it. Star power is an important factor in movies making money because, after all, in Hollywood, movies are a business more than an art.

Hugh Jackman will be Jean Valjean... but can he act it?

This is why I wasn't really all that surprised to hear that Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe had been cast as Valjean and Javert, respectively. Jackman is Hollywood's new "go-to" guy when it comes to singing and dancing. His stint as host of the Oscars a few years back was full of singing and dancing, including an elaborately choreographed tribute to movie musicals alongside Beyonce, Amanda Seyfried, Dominic Cooper, Zac Efron, and Vanessa Hudgens (ironic for a year where very few movie musicals were released), as well as an incredible opening number reminiscent of Billy Crystal's old openers (though with considerably more spectacle).

Jackman, who comes from a musical theatre background, seems like an obvious choice to play Valjean - he's got the vocal range, he's a big enough name to bring people in, etc. But will he be strong enough to pull off the complex emotional range of reformed criminal Jean Valjean? Granted, I've never thought of Jackman as a bad actor per se (numerous poor film choices notwithstanding), but none of his previous films have required the type of acting one would have to convey here... which is to say nothing of the believable aging he would have to undergo to go from Valjean at 40 at the play's beginning to Valjean at 75-80 at the end? While I know he's got the voice, I wonder if he can act well enough to pull off the main protagonist here.

Russell Crowe will be Javert... but can he sing it?

Russell Crowe came as a bit more of a surprise. Not in terms of star power, of course. I mean, the guy is a three-time Oscar nominee (his sole win coming for the movie Gladiator) and he is a consistent fixture in great period dramas. No, my concerns with Crowe were the opposite of Jackman. While I have no doubt whatsoever about Crowe's ability to play the hardened gendarme Javert, my doubts lay in his ability to sing the classic Javert numbers like "Stars," "Confrontation," and "Javert's Suicide."

Apparently, though, Russell Crowe has been singing and performing musically since the 80s when he became part of the band 30 Odd Foot of Grunts (which has to be one of the most ridiculous band names of all time). Crowe's vocal stylings on these recordings are hardly as 'clean' as those acts typically associated with Javert - Terrence Mann, Philip Quast, and Roger Allam, to name a few of the more renowned. In fact, most of the YouTube clips of Crowe's singing make him sound like a grizzled old country singer... but then you come to a clip of him singing live at some awards ceremony and you can't help but wonder if he might be able to pull it off. Chalk me up as 'cautiously optimistic' for this one.

Anne Hathaway will be Fantine. Can she pull it off?

Then we come to Anne Hathaway as Fantine, a single mother propelled by her estranged daughter's happiness. In the book, Fantine is a broken figure and a lot of this carries through to the musical - she is without options and is caught in a downward spiral, forced to become a prostitute in order to pay for her daughter's care. I want to go on record before I go much further and say that I've long been a fan of Miss Hathaway. I'll be honest - she's really attractive. But more than that, she is also an incredible talent. Granted, she hasn't had too many opportunities to spotlight that talent, but there are certain roles she's played (including her Oscar-nominated performance in Rachel Getting Married) that warrant her consideration as a talented performer.

Not only that, but the girl has some pipes! If you didn't catch her performance in the opening number of the 2009 Oscars that Hugh Jackman performed, check that out... and then watch her parody of Les Mis staple "On My Own" at the 2011 Oscars (which she attempted to cohost with James Franco). So it's not a serious attempt, but she clearly has the range to pull off Fantine. I'm excited about this casting choice for no other reason than that I want Hathaway to do well here.

Samantha Barks will reprise the role of Eponine.

Samantha Barks beat out a laundry list of what would appear to be "Hollywood gold" to claim the coveted role of Eponine - the daughter of the unfortunate Thenardiers who is rejected by her true love, Marius Pontmercy. Among those up for consideration for the role included Glee's Lea Michele, Scarlett Johanssen, Evan Rachel Wood, and teen pop sensation Taylor Swift. But Barks, who had recently portrayed the role at the 25th Anniversary Concert at O2 Arena (opposite Nick Jonas as Marius... but more on that later), won out... and deservedly so, I think. Her portrayal of the role at the concert is, I'm convinced, what helped her edge out the other major contenders.

The best part about Barks' casting is that we don't have to wonder whether or not she's able to play it. We've SEEN her do it and she knocked it out of the park! And if you are one of the unlucky few that hasn't seen her portrayal, check out this clip of her singing "On My Own" (Eponine's perhaps-too-popular ballad) at the 25th Anniversary Concert. Barks captures every conceivable shred of emotion in this song and conveys it darn near perfectly. I remember commenting to a friend after seeing her rendition that her portrayal was among the best - if not THE best - that I'd seen. I could not be happier that she got cast in this role! (And couldn't be even happier that she won out over Taylor Swift.)

"Alright, Taylor, I'mma let you finish... but Samantha Barks had one of the greatest film auditions OF ALL TIME!"
(Sorry - have to strike while the iron is tepid and lukewarm. :))

Okay, so this ended up being a lot more time-consuming than I initially thought (what, with the links, the photos, and all), so I'm going to have to break this up into multiple parts. Part Two will be coming in a few days and will feature my thoughts on the casting of the roles of Marius, Cosette, and the Thenardiers. Stay tuned and watch this space!

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Read the rest of this series:

- Part Two: Cosette, Marius, and the Thenardiers

- Part Three: And All the Rest...