Amanda Seyfried Has 1 Regret Involving Her ‘Les Miserables’ Performance
Despite being based on a novel from the 1860s, Les Miserables is one of the most well-known musical films of today’s times. The award-winning movie premiered in December 2012 and featured talented actors like Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Russell Crowe. Amanda Seyfried also appeared as Cosette. But a decade after making the film, Seyfried revealed she has one regret involving her performance.
The cast in ‘Les Miserables’ sang live while filming
When Les Miserables was celebrating its 10th anniversary, many of the award-winning movie’s cast sat down with Working Title to reflect on the film and the process behind creating it. As Hathaway put it, “It’s going to be different, for sure. This is the first time anyone’s tried it like this.”
What Hathaway was referring to was the live singing during production. Opting away from the traditional method of going to a studio to record their songs that would be later mimed during filming, the cast truly took on the challenge of being in the moment.
Producer Cameron Mackintosh credited the actors’ ability to be “completely at home” acting through music. It undoubtedly brought a unique aspect to the 2012 production.
Despite the praise and success behind Les Miserables, Seyfried recently revealed that she does have some remorse when it comes to her scenes.
Amanda Seyfried shares her ‘Les Miserables’ regret
In 2023, during an interview with Vanity Fair, Seyfried got candid about her past roles and journey to fame and success. From her unforgettable and iconic role as Karen in Mean Girls to another musical, Mamma Mia!, Seyfried gave audiences an inside perspective on her path and craft.
The actor bluntly told the camera, “I thought singing live was the best idea ever.” The Jennifer’s Body star explained, “I knew how tricky it was gonna be. I was very scared by it. But I also knew that so much comes out of singing your emotions, and it’s such a beautiful expression.”
After many auditions, once Seyfried finally landed the coveted role, she realized her vocals weren’t where she wanted them to be. In her interview, the star explained, “I had quit singing for many years and had only done Mamma Mia! And so that was like a session or two. And this was gonna be like, I needed stamina, I needed strength, I needed to be able to sing in real-time.”
Seyfried honestly admitted that in Les Miserables, “I was pretty weak.” The 37-year-old actor called it her “one regret,” not getting vocal lessons to prepare.
Amanda Seyfried shares more about making ‘Les Miserables’
Regardless of the vocals not panning out the way Seyfried would have liked, The Dropout star shared “it was just so nice to relate to my fellow character, fellow actors through song.” Not to mention, it didn’t hurt matters that Les Miserables is her favorite musical.
In Seyfried’s words, “I died for this musical when I was like twelve.” An Allentown, Pennsylvania native, she vividly recalled the first time she saw the show in Philadelphia.
What must have been a very full-circle moment for the star may have not been 100 percent perfect in Seyfried’s eyes, but the star definitely seemed to learn a lot through her Les Miserables experience.
