Trailer
Trivia
Anne
Hathaway reportedly blew everyone away at her audition, leaving
them in tears.
Coincidentally, Anne
Hathaway sang with Hugh
Jackman at the Academy Awards (twice). The second time,
Hathaway was hosting and sang 'On My Own' to Jackman because Jackman refused to
sing with her. Later, Jackman was cast in this movie and he suggested Hathaway
as Fantine. She was later cast.
Colm Wilkinson, playing the Bishop of Digne,
originated the role of Jean Valjean in both the London and New York stage
productions.
Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha
Baron Cohen (The Thenardiers) have co-starred before in another
musical, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Anne Hathaway actually cut her hair very
short for this movie, in a scene where her character sells her hair.
Hugh Jackman lost considerable weight and
grew a real scraggly beard for scenes of Valjean as a prisoner, though
mercifully they were shot first in production and he could shave and return to
his usual weight for scenes playing Valjean as a wealthy man.
Amanda Seyfried said in an interview that
it took over four months of auditioning to get the part of Cosette. She was
entirely unaware of the other young women auditioning/ being considered for the
role, but she was constantly told that she was "not right" for this
musical/film. During the audition process, Seyfried was also singing/reading
for the role of Fantine, and forced herself to get into vocal and physical shape
for strong consideration for either one of the roles. When Anne
Hathaway signed on as Fantine, Seyfried was given the role of
Cosette.
Producer Cameron
Mackintosh, who also produced the original stage musical in England,
has wanted to do a film version of it since the early 90's.
Typically, the soundtrack for a movie musical is
recorded several months in advance and the actors mime to playback during
filming. However, on this film, every single song was recorded live on set to
capture the spontaneity of the performances. Everyone involved, from Hugh
Jackman to Russell Crowe to producer Cameron
Mackintosh, have praised this approach as it allowed them to
concentrate on their acting as opposed to lip-syncing properly. They have also
praised director Tom Hooper for attempting this on such a
scale; something no director has ever done before.
Recording the actors' singing live as they're
acting may not be a first for this film, but the scope, and especially the
manner in which it's being done, is: The actors wore ear pieces which fed the
sound of a live piano being played off-stage, to keep their singing in key. The
main novelty here is, there's no count-in or predetermined tempo and the piano
is following the pacing of the actor, not the other way around - a first for a
filmed musical. Orchestral music was added post-production.
Anne Hathaway's first exposure to the role of
Fantine was in 1987 when her mother, Kate
McCauley Hathaway, played the role in the first U.S. tour of the
musical.
Several actors went through transformations upon
receiving their roles. Anne Hathaway lost 25 pounds in total for her
portrayal of Fantine, while Hugh Jackman lost 30 pounds in order to
play Valjean as a prisoner.
Hugh Jackman personally lobbied for Anne
Hathaway to get the role of Fantine after the two performed
together at the Academy Awards.
Anne
Hathaway refuses to discuss how she lost 25 pounds to play the
dying Fantine, as she admits her methods were life threatening, and doesn't
want to glamorize or promote her methods to young women. However, she has
confirmed eating oatmeal paste as one of the reasons of her weight loss.
In addition to the actors singing
live, which allowed them to improvise their singing patterns, much of the
movement was improvised as well. Particularly, Valjean's first solo, the
Soliloquy, was filmed using a Steadicam and allowed Hugh
Jackman to move as he saw fit in order to convey the heavy
emotion of the scene.
Hugh
Jackman went 36 hours without water, causing him to lose water
weight around his eyes and cheeks, giving him the gaunt appearance of a
prisoner.
Helena
Bonham Carter is a first cousin five times removed from French
politician Achille Fould, a major rival of Victor
Hugo due to his support for Louis Napoleon III.
Anne
Hathaway lost 11 kilos for her role by eating nothing but two
thin slices of oatmeal paste per day.
According to Anne
Hathaway in an interview, her big song, "I Dreamed a
Dream" was originally going to have her sing in a coffin. But, it was
changed from a coffin to a boat because Tom
Hooper thought it looked too ridiculous.
Despite reports of having the number
to be finished in a one-shot, Anne Hathaway confirmed in an interview that
it took 8 hours to film "I Dreamed a Dream" to get the scene more
deeper and emotional. The fourth take made it in the final cut.
The film was going to be 4 hours long, with a
15-minute battle. But, it was shortened to 2 and a half hours. 15 minutes of
the final film were cut out.
There is a running "gag" in
which even though Thénardier claims to love Cosette like his own daughter, he
can never quite remember her name correctly. He incorrectly calls her
"Colette" several times, and also once calls her "Courgette."
"Courgette" is the French word for "zucchini."
Though cut from the theatrical edit, Anne Hathaway
insisted that she perform a single stunt that involved Fantine's corpse being
thrown from window into an awaiting cart. Both director Tom
Hooper and the producers had already hired a stunt woman and
were hesitant to allow Anne to make the fall. Anne was able to convince them to
perform the stunt when she stated, "Don't make me say it... guys, I'm
Catwoman" (in regards to her previous role in The
Dark Knight Rises).
Hugh
Jackman claimed Jean Valjean's death scene was the most
difficult to perform, since it was filmed on a freezing cold set at 1 in the
morning, making it hard on his voice.
Enjolras died in a similar position
as the character in the stage show, hanging upside down. The main difference is
that in the stage show he hangs from the barricade instead of out a window.
Source:
IMDB
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