Victor Hugos epic tale of redemption and revolutionLes Miserablesis set in nineteenth-century France and 2004s meme-generatingMean Girlsis…not.
This is a massive case ofWhy are you so obsessed with me?, he jokes.
Jean Valjean and Javert really areMean Girls, and its not clear why Javert is so obsessed with him.
Credit: Robert Viglasky/© Lookout Point/MASTERPIECE
To an astonishing degree.
Theres something going on between these two men.
And we didnt want to play that too much.
Laurence Cendrowicz/© Lookout Point/MASTERPIECE
And theres no stronger impulse than love and sex.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: How familiar were you withLes Miswhen you signed on?
With the musicals popularity, it seems almost unavoidable, especially in Britain.DOMINIC WEST:I escaped it!
I certainly hadnt read it.
If I was honest, I was slightly put off by the musical.
I also thought, Well its just been made into a film.
Whats the point of doing it again?
Then I read Andrews scripts and I saw why it was a classic.
This guy hasnt done anything wrong.
In fact, hes been completely wronged.
Throughout the story, hes constantly thinking of that of himself.
So, he does need to be as brutish and as frightening as possible at the beginning.
If hes always been a nice guy, theres not much of a journey to go on.
Its just more dramatic when the Bishop shows love to this guy if hes terrifying.
[Laughs] Yeah.
Itd be great if he got 19 years hard labor.
That is just nuts.
They believe they are brutish and they behave accordingly.
Thats a lot what Victor Hugo was trying to talk about.
David Oyelowo is your foil as Javert.
What was that push and pull like with him?He took the lead on it really.
I thought, Oh, hes not very friendly.
Then he said, Oh no, that was totally deliberate.
I didnt want to get to know you.
I didnt want to feel easy with you.
Andrew Davies is so well-regarded as an adaptor, having tackled everyone from Austen to Dickens to Tolstoy.
[Laughs] But I suppose he got good at it withPride and Prejudice.
And when you consider how long the novel is, thats an extraordinary achievement.
Hes just very good at selecting the nuggets and finessing the bumpy bits.
She did pull my hair quite deliberately I think.
But anyway, its a serious scene for Valjean.
Hugo does a three chapter dissertation on the state of the Catholic church, nunneries in particular.
Hes not a great fan of Catholicism, but hes definitely a believer in God.
You cant really do Valjean without having that dimension to him.
He believes in God; he believes hes been saved and can be redeemed.
Thats fundamental to him.
You cant understand him without that.
The candlesticks become a symbol of that belief in God.
That virtue does not come divorced from his God.
That does not exist in a vacuum.
Valjean is a very physical role in a lot of ways.
Did you have to do a lot of training for it?Yeah, that was a nightmare.
Hes essentially described as the strongest man in the world, who can fight ten men at a time.
Hes a superhuman; hes the original superhero.
Id like to see Iron Man do 19 years hard labor in a 19th-century prison.
Hes tough as nails.
That was quite daunting for me.
I did a lot of boxing training; thats the toughest training I know.
The only one Ive ever done isMy Fair Lady.
I played Professor Higgins, which is a part thats written for a non-singer.
I was constantly trying to put songs intoLes Mis.
[Laughs]
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