Amanda Seyfried and Taylor Swift for "Les Miserables"?
If these reports on Twitch are true, it looks like two more lead roles in director Tom Hooper's upcoming big-screen adaptation of Les Miserables have finally been cast. The first report has Amanda Seyfried being offered the role of Cosette, the adult version of that little girl in the Les Miz logo artwork above, who is the adopted daughter of Jean Valjean (played by Hugh Jackman). Seyfried is no stranger to movie musicals, having previously starred in the hit movie version of Mamma Mia. The author of the Twitch article does seem a bit confused about her role in the film: yes, Cosette is the daughter of Fantine, who will be played by Anne Hathaway, but since Fantine actually (*SPOILER*) dies much earlier in the story when Cosette is still only a child, it doesn't really matter that there's only a three-year age difference between Seyfried and Hathaway.
The other report has been rumored for awhile and was met with a less-than-thrilled response from fans of the stage musical, but it looks like they better get used to it: country star Taylor Swift has reportedly been offered the role of Eponine, the lovestruck teenage street kid who falls for the student revolutionary Marius (played by Eddie Redmayne), who, unfortunately for Eponine, is already in love with Cosette. A character beloved by teenage theater fangirls for getting to sing "On My Own", probably the most popular theatrical anthem to unrequited love written in the last thirty years (although Wicked's "I'm Not That Girl" is running a close second these days), rumored other contenders for the role included Scarlett Johansson, Evan Rachel Wood, and Lea Michele.
I'm a little torn on this one, since I've never been much of a Taylor Swift fan. I was actually rooting for Lea Michele to get the part - not only did she make her Broadway stage debut alternating in the roles of Young Cosette and Young Eponine in Les Miserables in 1995, but in 2008 she played the adult Eponine in a Hollywood Bowl concert version of the show, where she sang the crap out of "On My Own". She plays such a brat on Glee, you almost forget how talented she actually is.
But it looks like that's not to be. I'm going to keep an open mind and hope Swift surprises us with this one and does a great job. If she and Seyfried sign on, they'll be joining a cast that includes the aforementioned Hugh Jackman and Eddie Redmayne, as well as Russell Crowe, Sacha Baron Cohen, Aaron Tveit, and possibly Helena Bonham Carter (that one still hasn't been officially confirmed).
Les Miserables is scheduled to be released on December 7, 2012.
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