Taylor Swift felt humiliated meeting Eddie Redmayne for her Les Misérables screen test because her teeth were painted brown.
The Blank Space singer auditioned for the role of Éponine, a destitute woman who is secretly in love with her friend Marius, who was portrayed by Eddie in the 2012 movie. However, she was unsuccessful and the part went to Samantha Barks.
During an appearance alongside Eddie on The Graham Norton Show, Taylor recalled how they met for a screen test while she was dressed like a “street urchin” and had brown teeth that made her “look like death”.
“Basically I was up for two roles – I had the look of Cosette and the range vocally of Éponine, so it was established I was there for a good time but not for a long time, I wasn’t going to get the role. But, they asked if I would like to go to London to do a screen test with Eddie, who is one of my favourite actors, and I thought ‘This isn’t an experience I am going to get again in my life,’ so I said yes,” Taylor recalled.
“When I got there they put me in full 19th Century street urchin costume and told me they were going to paint my teeth brown and I was like, ‘You are going to do that after I meet Eddie Redmayne right?’ But no, they made me look like death and it became a nightmare. When I met Eddie I didn’t open my mouth to speak!”
Eddie remembered that they had to sing while in each other’s arms, which he hadn’t anticipated, and he couldn’t stop thinking about his garlic breath.
“My overriding memory of it is that I had had pizza and garlic dough balls beforehand and all I could think about was my garlic breath while Taylor was dying in my arms and I was trying to show emotion,” he joked.
The Graham Norton Show airs in the U.K. on Friday night.