Swift was up for the roles of Cosette and Eponine, but it sounds like it was pretty. miserable!
The Grammy award-winning sensation was reunited with the Oscar-winning actor during an episode of British chat show The Graham Norton Show. Swift, who has just released her latest studio album “Midnights”, recalled how she was initially in the running for the roles of Cosette and Eponine. “I had the look of Cosette and the range vocally of Éponine, so it was established I was there for a good time, but not for a long time,” she explained. “I wasn’t going to get the role.” She was then invited to audition opposite Redmayne, who had been cast as Marius. “They asked if I would like to go to London to do a screen test with Eddie, who is one of my favorite actors, and I thought, ‘This isn’t an experience I am going to get again in my life,’ so I said yes,” she said.
However, things quickly went from sunshine to midnight rain when she found out she’d be getting quite the makeover prior to meeting the Fantastic Beasts actor…leaving her somewhat stunned. “When I got there they put me in full 19th-century street urchin costume and told me they were going to paint my teeth brown, and I was like, ‘You are going to do that after I meet Eddie Redmayne right?’ But no, they made me look like death, and it became a nightmare,” Swift recollected. “When I met Eddie I didn’t open my mouth to speak!”
Unbeknownst to her, Redmayne was feeling more like an anti-hero than a Hollywood icon when he realized he’d be in a full lover-style embrace with the pop sensation. “I thought we would just be singing off each other — I didn’t know we would be in each other’s arms,” he said. “My overriding memory of it is that I had had pizza and garlic dough balls beforehand and all I could think about was my garlic breath while Taylor was dying in my arms, and I was trying to show emotion.”
The brilliantly hilarious moment comes more than a decade after the film illuminated theaters. Les Misérables went on to receive critical acclaim and eight Academy Award nominations with three massive wins. Aside from Redmayne, Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried and Sacha Baron Cohen all landed roles in the Tom Hooper hit.
Swift’s album “Midnights” is out now. You can check out the trailer for Les Misérables here.
