Amanda Seyfried, who portrayed the adult version of Cosette in Les Misérables, explains her biggest regret in the Tom Hopper adaptation. Cosette is the daughter of Fantine (Anne Hathaway), the adopted daughter of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), the love interest to Eddie Redmayne’s Marius, and the very envy of Éponine (Samantha Barks). Les Misérables was decently received at the time of its release, being nominated for eight Academy Awards. It ultimately won three, including Best Sound Mixing, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, and Best Supporting Actress for Hathaway.

Speaking with GQ, Seyfried reflected on her Les Misérables role and what she regrets from the part. Overall, she loved her experience working on the musical adaptation, praising the costumes and the people. The aspect she was less enthusiastic about, however, was the live singing. The actor did not feel she was “technically ready or capable” to sustain the live singing to the level she “would have liked to.” She described this particular process as “infuriating.” Check out the full quote below:

Les Mis was an incredible movie. And oh god, I loved it. The costumes, the people, we were all really happy to be there. But I unfortunately, was not technically ready or capable of the live singing in the way that I would have liked to be. That process was infuriating. I knew what I had to sing, but they’re hard songs. And the acting part of it came naturally, it was very indulgent, it was beautiful to be like ‘how strange this feeling that my life’s begun at last.’ I was also worried about my accent, but that was the least of my worries. ‘I’m getting to sing all these things to you and it feel so natural’ but it’s like ‘what’s the matter with you, Cosette.’ I also have to be very musical. It didn’t the mark the way Eddie [Redmayne] was hitting it and the way Samantha Barks is, I mean she’s miles better than all of us, technically. Annie Hathaway, even when she’s crying and taking him at the end, it’s just like, it was perfect. It was perfect. It’s what made that movie ҒUCҜing fly. And I was lacking. I was lacking in a way that I really wish I hadn’t been, and that’s a regret I have. And everybody’s like ‘you’re crazy,’ but I’m not. I know what I would have liked to sound like. I would have liked to sound like I sound now.

What This Meant For Les Misérables

The Live Singing Was Highly Publicized

The live singing was one of the most notable parts of the Les Misérables movie. While most movie musicals record their soundtracks in the sound booth, Hooper and his team directed the actors to perform their vocal roles live on set. While the authenticity of this element would later be the subject of praise, this is a much more challenging task for the actors, some of whom were not Broadway-trained themselves, and thus less experienced with live performances.

Live acting is fundamentally different from screen acting, so it makes sense that Seyfried would have been overwhelmed by this process. She had been in a musical film before, playing Sophie in Mamma Mia!, but that role was a much more conventional, recorded process than Les Misérables. Seyfried was not the only person perceived as missing the mark in Hooper’s film. Though Jackman and Hathaway would get award recognition, Russell Crowe was often criticized for his Les Misérables singing, with detractors noting the extent to which he felt he was yelling or speaking.

Our Take On Amanda Seyfried In Les Mis

Seyfried Missed The Mark For Me Too

As a big fan of the original musical, I was admittedly a bit unimpressed by Seyfried’s performance in Les Misérables. She mentions the accent in her recent quote, and her inflections and diction were a part of the lackluster performance. In “A Heart Full of Love,” for example, she consistently fails to clearly close her final consonants, singing what sounds like “A heart full of laa.” Singing on-site was a difficult and controversial choice for the movie, and it would be interesting to see how things would look now if Seyfried had the chance to re-do the role.

Source: GQ