heat goes behind the scenes of the BBC’S big new drama, Les Misérables
Kay Ribeiro hangs out with the stars of BBC1’S new (non-musical) version
‘Dom dragged me through freezing water’ Josh
It’s a beautiful day in the centre of Brussels, and we’re standing in a cobbled market place. Little stalls are selling loaves of bread, flowers and carafes of wine, and we’re surrounded by incredibly old-looking shops. If it wasn’t for a couple of strategically placed cherry pickers holding big cameras and tourists taking pictures on their iphones, we’d think we really were in the 19th century, and the Eurostar was a time machine.
We are, in fact, on the set of Andrew Davies’ exciting new six-part adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel Les Misérables, charting the struggle of France’s underclass and the 1832 Paris Uprising (with Brussels standing in for Paris).
Already memorialised by the hit West End musical and Tom Hooper’s 2012 Oscar-winning movie, this visually stunning BBC period drama is no less lavish or ambitious, and boasts a suitably impressive star-studded cast.
Dominic West and David Oyelowo are famous adversaries Jean Valjean and Javert, Josh O’connor is rebel Marius, Lily Collins plays desperate Fantine, Ellie Bamber is orphan Cosette, and Erin Kellyman embodies selfless Eponine. It bears the hallmarks of being every bit as epic and emotionally profound as its past incarnations, but with one notable difference – there’s no singing this time.
BY THE BOOK
Rather than retreading old musical ground, characters don’t break into song in Davies’ version. Instead, the master of the literary adaptation has skillfully sifted through the novel and picked up on the rich detail of narrative threads that have been previously glossed over, as well as fleshing out the characters. “What was a lyric in a song now gets to be an entire scene,” Lily Collins tells us in a break from filming. Les Mis fans will be well aware of Fantine’s desperately sad fate, what with her turning to prostitution to provide for her baby Cosette and tragically dying, but this explores the joyfulness of her youth and allows us to see her falling in love. But how does it feel taking on
a much-loved role, and one that earned Anne Hathaway a Best Supporting Actress Oscar? “It’s so funny, I spoke to Anne about it and said, ‘Twins!’ And she said, ‘Good luck – and do your own thing,’ so I never felt I had to live up to anything,” says Lily.
OLD ENEMIES
Central to the hard-hitting drama is the cat-and-mouse relationship of ex-convict Jean Valjean and Inspector Javert, who makes it his life’s mission to bring the former to justice. “When you read the book, you realise Javert’s a layered individual,” David explains. “He was born in and around criminality, and that’s the thing he’s pushing away from obsessively all his life. Jean Valjean represents what he could have been. So, he’s trying to kill off that side of himself.” And Dominic – who arrives in full costume of billowing shirt, neckerchief and mega-sideburns – extols the virtues of literature’s most famous criminal. “I’m in tears all day,” he says. “I love this man. He’s attempting to be the best he can be, against all odds , and he manages. He’s a hero.”
FILMING FUN
While Les Mis is a notorious tear-jerker, the cast have managed to find humour while filming the more emotionally demanding scenes. Josh O’connor reveals to us that the dramatic sewer scene, which was filmed over three days – and in which Valjean heroically carries Marius to safety and into Cosette’s waiting arms – wasn’t quite as gruelling for his co-star as you might expect. “Dom might say he carried me, but a lot of it is dragging me quite conveniently through freezing cold water!” he laughs. “Everyone was like, ‘Dom, Dom, are you all right?’ And I was like, ‘He’s fine! I’m cold and wet!’”
And Josh adds, “He was also always suggesting stuff. He’d go, ‘Maybe I can drag Josh through that poo-ey bit there?’ I was like, ‘Nah, Dom, that’s not scripted,’ and he was like, ‘Doesn’t matter, let’s do it!’” n
Les Misérables airs on BBC1 from Sunday 30 December, 9pm (see preview, page 144)