MUSICAL MADEMOISELLE

SAMANTHA BARKS

Samantha Barks’ Hollywood debut couldn’t have gone better, playing the tragic Éponine opposite Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter in Les Mis. Since then, Barks, 23, hasn’t stopped: she’s just finished shooting two films, Dracula Untold with Dominic Cooper and The Devil’s Harvest with Terence Stamp, had a whirlwind romance with David Gandy, and has her eyes set on Broadway.

An upcoming starlet’s schedule may be punishing — Barks has taken ten international flights in the past month — but she’s doing her best to channel some Kate Middleton radiance today in a sleek gown by Calvin Klein, while having her hair coiffed by the pros at Charles Worthington (Barks is the brand’s red-carpet ‘muse’). ‘I absolutely love Kate. She’s perfect and has such class.’

Hailing from the village of Laxey on the Isle of Man, Barks left home at 16 and moved to London to train at West London’s Arts Educational School. She tried out for the role of Nancy in the BBC’s I’d Do Anything, the talent show headed up by Andrew Lloyd Webber, and came third, describing the experience as ‘character-building. Once you’ve been criticised in front of the nation, you’re kind of halfway there.’

Soon after she was booked as Sally Bowles in Rufus Norris’ Cabaret, followed by a UK tour of Oliver! playing Nancy. She caught the eye of The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper, who was looking for someone to play Éponine. Barks went on to sing her big number ‘On My Own’ at last year’s Oscars. ‘Since then I’ve sung it in Mahiki’s karaoke room. But no one needs to hear that version.’

Like most actresses during awards season, Barks has to stay in shape, spending weekends at boxing and Bikram yoga classes or hosting ‘indulgent yet healthy’ dinner parties at the home in Chiswick she shares with her Emmerdale- graduate boyfriend, Richard Fleeshman. So what’s a typical menu? ‘Quinoa burgers, cashew cheese dips, raw pumpkin puddings and maybe some almond flour cookies?’ Gwyneth will be coming round soon…