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Taylor Swift opened up on The Graham Norton Show during her Midnights press tour, revealing the behind-the-scenes chaos that led to her missing out on a role in Tom Hooper’s 2012 adaptation of the classic musical.
Swift, who had the “look of Cosette and the range vocally of Éponine,” was up for two roles in the film. She knew she wasn’t likely to get the part but decided to go for the experience of a lifetime. “They asked if I would like to go to London to do a screen test with Eddie, who is one of my favorite actors, and I thought, ‘This isn’t an experience I am going to get again in my life,’ so I said yes.”
Swift flew out to meet Eddie Redmayne, who had already been cast as Marius, but things quickly turned south. Instead of the glamour she expected, she found herself in full 19th-century street urchin attire, complete with brown-painted teeth. Swift, clearly shocked, recalled, “They made me look like death and it became a nightmare. When I met Eddie, I didn’t open my mouth to speak.”
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Imagine the awkwardness: here’s Taylor Swift, all ready to test her chemistry with one of her favorite actors, and instead of looking like the graceful star she’s known to be, she’s looking like something out of a horror movie. Talk about a confidence killer.
But the drama didn’t stop there. Redmayne, who was on The Graham Norton Show alongside Swift, also had his own memories of the ordeal. “I thought we would just be singing off each other – I didn’t know we would be in each other’s arms,” he laughed. And just when you thought things couldn’t get more awkward, Redmayne added, “My overriding memory of it is that I 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.” Yep, nothing says chemistry like garlic breath and a 19th-century street urchin look.
Though Swift didn’t land the role in Les Misérables (which grossed $441 million worldwide and snagged eight Oscar nominations), her dreams of working in a movie musical didn’t end there. Swift would later work with Hooper in another movie musical, Cats, where she played a supporting role and recorded an original song for the film.
So while Swift may not have been able to bring Cosette or Éponine to life, her audition disaster still lives on in her fans’ minds, and now, in her own words.
For more such stories, check out Hollywood News
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