The actress says she “still has nightmares” about having to sing live on set while filming “Les Misérables”.
Amanda Seyfried as Cosette in “Les Miserables”
Everett / Universal Collection
It is not always that an actor openly criticizes a past performance, but Amanda Seyfried made that clear in a recent episode of Variety’s “Actors over Actors” series that she regrets her performance in Tom Hooper’s musical adaptation for 2012’s “The Miserable”. Seyfried starred in the film as Cosette, Fantine’s illegitimate daughter (played by Anne Hathaway in an Oscar-winning performance). According to Seyfried, his voice was not strong enough to play the role successfully. Hooper was not dependent on backtracks for musical performances and instead had his cast sing live on set, which terrified Seyfried.
“In my career, I had many moments when I totally regretted it,” said Seyfried. “I wish I could remake ‘Les Misérables’ completely because the aspect of the live singing, I still have nightmares about it. Singing is more forgiving than acting in some ways. I feel that when I have emotional scenes, where I really cry and I feel what I am really feeling and I am there, it is very good and cathartic because crying is really cathartic. Singing is the same way. As well, being touched by music and melody is so magical. When you feel like you’ve got there, where your voice is where it needs to be and your voice is as strong as it needs to be. And it wasn’t connected [‘Les Misérables’]. “
Seyfried continued: “I was very weak. I feel like I could definitely play Cosette now. I’ve been working hard since ‘The Miserable’ to strengthen my voice and have some energy. In addition to working on my vibrato, which was completely lost. From a very technical point of view, I was very unhappy with my singing. “
In addition to “The Miserable”, Seyfried also lent his voice to musical films “Mamma Mia!” and “Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again”. The actress is currently the pioneer in getting her first Oscar nomination for her role in David Fincher’s “Mank”. Seyfriend is campaigning for Best Supporting Actress. “Mank” is now broadcasting on Netflix.
Amanda Seyfried: “I wish I could remake ‘Les Miz’ completely, because the whole aspect of the live singing – I still have nightmares about it” | #ActorsOnActors presented by @AmazonStudios https://t.co/Nl48EK7MQ3 pic.twitter.com/YJ2ZxQybAI
– Variety (@Variety) January 29, 2021
Sign up: Stay on top of the latest film and TV news! Sign up to receive our newsletters by email here.