Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Kicked to the Curb

Hearing this news everywhere today, I thought that I would write about it. Since this morning, news has been breaking everywhere that Taylor Swift has been kicked to the curb in the Les Miserables movie being created by Tom Hooper. The reason behind this remains to be seen, but someone else has already been officially asked to claim the role. The role will go to Samantha Barks, who played Eponine in the London 25th Anniversary Concert. I have to say, she was great when watching the concert, but I hope she has the acting skills to back it up.

Before I get any further into this post, you should all know that Les Miserables is another one of my obsessions.  I grew up singing Master of the House and Red and Black since the age of 5. My family has claimed our own parts in the musical and we still will sing it on long road trips. So, when I found out there was another movie being made for December of this year, I was immediately excited. I wanted to know who would play each of the roles.

For the most part, I am very pleased with the choices and I'm really looking forward to the film. I was happy about Taylor Swift receiving her role as well. I know she doesn't have the best acting record, but I think that might be on the account of the parts that she has had. She played the young cheerleader in love in He's Just Not That Into You. All I have to comment on that, is that she played an annoying cheerleader...enough said. But I thought this would be a good re-launching for her acting career. It would also help that she has a good voice and could definitely carry the role. With this new girl being cast instead, I am hopeful that her acting will be good.

The character of Eponine is a challenging one. She is in love with Marius, who is in love with Cosette. The love triangle is deep and Eponine goes very far to spend time with Marius. I do not want to throw the whole story down for anyone who plans to see the movie and it will be their first viewing of the musical itself. Here's to you Samantha Barks, good luck with the role.

I am a huge fan of the rest of the cast, but I am only questioning one person. I am so happy that Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried,Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter are involved. Especially the latter two, because they are playing Monsieur and Madame Thenardier. The two best characters in the show, and in my opinion they could not have been cast any better.

The only person I am questioning is Anne Hathaway as Fantine. I do like Anne Hathaway, I just don't know how I feel about her playing Fantine. This puts her up to be playing Amanda Seyfried's mother and Hugh Jackman's lover. She has a decent voice, but the notes in the final song are extremely hard to master, trust me I know from all my experiences belting it out myself. Also, no one has seen her sing in a movie since Rio and before that in Hoodwinked and Ella Enchanted.  I love her acting ability and I know that she will cover that aspect of the role very well. I am hoping she will rise to the challenge, because the shoes to fill are big.

That's the challenge when casting a musical to be made into a movie. You have to find the people who have the right mix of acting ability and singing capability as well. The singing carries most musicals, but those with deeper story lines, such as Les Miserables, truly require good acting to back up the singing. Otherwise, there is something lacking. Overall, I am pumped for the movie and I cannot wait for December. Hopefully, the rest of the cast will stay intact and filming will start on schedule.

No comments:

Post a Comment