The iconic pop sensation of the music industry, Taylor Swift, launched her career with her debut album, Taylor Swift in 2004.
Over the years, the singer has released numerous albums, earning her a remarkable 14 Grammy Awards. Most notably, she won Album of the Year four times, with her recent 2024 Midnights. Beyond music, Swift has explored acting, appearing in films like Valentine’s Day and Cats. But did you know she almost starred in the highly acclaimed musical Les Misérables, but the role ultimately went to another actress?
The 2012 movie ensembled A-list names from the Hollywood industry, including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Anne Hathaway. Swift’s friend, Hathaway, took on the role of Fantine in the movie, portraying a struggling worker who loses her job after discovering she is a child out of wedlock. The older version of an illegitimate daughter was played by Amanda Seyfried, while the role of young Cosette was played by Isabelle Allen. Early in the film, Cosette is depicted as living with unscrupulous innkeepers, who also have a daughter named Eponine. Swift auditioned for the role of Eponine and reportedly did very well, but the director Tom Hooper decided to choose a British actress and went with Samantha Barks.
Reflecting on reconsidering Swift for the role, Hooper once told Vulture, “[Taylor] rather brilliantly auditioned for Éponine. Ultimately, I couldn’t quite believe Taylor Swift was a girl people would overlook. So it didn’t quite feel right for her for the most flattering reason.”
Les Misérables is a timeless tale originally written as a novel by French author Victor Hugo in 1862. Over the years, it has inspired several adaptations, with the most famous being the stage musical produced by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg in 1980. The original synopsis of the film on Rotten Tomatoes reads, “After 19 years as a prisoner, Jean Valjean is freed by Javert, the officer in charge of the prison workforce. Valjean promptly breaks parole but later uses money from stolen silver to reinvent himself as a mayor and factory owner.”
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