Last year Tom Hooper took the Academy Awards by storm with The King’s Speech, an Oscar-baiting biopic about the stuttering troubles of a would-be king that took home Best Picture along with a number of other lofty prizes. And it looks like Hooper’s similarly setting up his next feature, an ambitious musical adaptation of Les Miserables, for Oscar glory by filling his cast with plenty of actors the Academy is already well aware of.
First he cast former Oscar host Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean and Oscar-winner Russell Crowe and the doggedly determined Inspector Javier. Next, he cast Oscar-nominee and former Oscar co-host Anne Hathaway as the frail Fantine, and the film was set for a release date in the thick of award season. And now Deadline reports the latest addition to this quick-growing ensemble is rising indie star Eddie Redmayne, who is already scoring award-season buzz for his lead role in My Week With Marilyn. Playing against type, the oft-gawky actor has been hired to play Marius, the dashing young revolutionary who wins the heart of Cosette and Eponine.
Personally, I’m baffled by this latest casting revelation on two counts. First off, I’ve never bought Redmayne as a convincing man of action. In both Black Death and The Pillars of Earth Redmayne is called upon to shoulder much of the plot and several action sequences, yet always seemed out of his depth to me, staring into the mid-distance with a befuddled expression. So I’m hardly confident he’ll pull off the debonair charisma Marius effortlessly exudes that draws his fellow students into a likely fatal fray. Secondly, Hooper’s been getting a lot of flack with his in development adaptation for casting gorgeous Hollywood stars in his film, seemingly angling for as broad an audience as possible. But if this is the case, then why cast Redmayne when there are a slew of more handsome men out there? My first thought is Broadway and 30 Rock star Cheyenne Jackson, who we know can actually sing even if he is a bit old for the part. And in fact, do we have any evidence that Redmayne can sing? And am I the only one still wholly skeeved out by his turn on the incest-centered Savage Grace?
I typically feel adapting a Broadway musical into a successful film is a deeply tricky affair, but with the sheer charisma of Jackman, Hathaway and even Crowe, I was curious about the direction of Hooper’s interpretation. But the addition of Redmayne makes the former three’s casting seem clear Oscar-bait tactics, which completely kills my curiosity about this Les Mis variation. (I’ve been burned before.) Add to this the rumor that King’s Speech co-star and seemingly chronically campy actress Helena Bonham Carter is in talks to play the comedic relief innkeeper Madame Thénardier, and I’m left miserable with only my worn cast recording to soothe me.
Les Miserables is slated to open December 7, 2012. My Week With Marilyn opens November 23, 2011.
What do you think of the latest Les Mis news? Who would you like to see play Cosette? Is there someone you’d rather see play Valjean, Fantine, Javert and Marius? Share your thoughts in comments.