Ever since he starred on Broadway in “The Boy From Oz,” Hugh Jackman has been the musical theater’s most sought-after leading man. Now he’s taken his act to the big screen, starring as Jean Valjean in “Les Misérables,” which opens on Christmas. Jackman, whose sensational one-man show in New York last year broke box-office records, has been racing around the world, promoting the movie. I caught up with him over the phone while he was in Sydney, Australia, his hometown.
Did you read all 1,200 pages of Hugo’s novel before making “Les Misérables”?
I did. And I loved it. I wish I’d read it when I was 17 — that’s the time to read it. I read it after my audition with [director] Tom Hooper. He asked me very detailed questions about the story and Jean Valjean, and it became painfully apparent that my general answers didn’t hold up. So I thought I’d better read the book. Took me two months! I generally read at night, after I’ve put the kids to bed. Two to six pages a night. But I loved it. I think it’s unbelievably spot-on about human nature. It makes you sort out what you believe in — what you stand for in terms of social truth and justice. Reading that book can change your life. The portrait of the Bishop [played in the movie by Colm Wilkinson, the original Jean Valjean on Broadway] reminded me very much of Tim Costello, who runs World Vision [an Australian-based charity for children in need]. He is a moral sound pad in this country.
When did you first see “Les Misérables” onstage, and what did you think of it?
I saw it on Broadway when I was 30 — 12 years ago. I went with my friend Shuler Hensley, who played Jud in “Oklahoma!” with me [at the National Theatre in London]. He said we should check it out. Frankly, I wasn’t sure. It had been running 12, 13 years — that’s a long time after the opening-night performance! I thought, “This is going to be a brutal night.” But I was very impressed. I saw it four or five times after that.
Did [producer] Cameron Mackintosh ever ask you to be in it onstage?
Yes. Cameron asked me to play Javert, but I couldn’t do it at the time for some reason. It’s funny, though. I sang “Stars” [Javert’s dramatic number] at my very first musical audition, for Gaston in “Beauty and the Beast.” I’d never really sang before, so I thought, well “Stars” is a good song, I’ll sing that. After I was done, the director said, “This is ‘Beauty and the Beast.’ Why did you sing ‘Stars’?” OK, well, lesson learned — never do that again.
I bet you’d be a very good Javert. You can convey that lean, intense, determined look.
Yes, but it’s not a part I identify with: “I’m the law, I’m very tough.” I think I’d try a little too hard and come up short. And then when I saw Russell [Crowe] do it in rehearsal, I thought ‘That’s how it’s done!. I always wanted to play Jean Valjean because he’s a character I wanted to explore, but I couldn’t sing it. It wasn’t until I started studying voice with Joan Lader that I opened up my range.
Who’s Joan Lader?
She’s the New York gal for everybody on Broadway. I study with her. Kristin Chenoweth and Patti LuPone go to her. Madonna went to her. She’s amazing.
I would think the hardest song for you to sing in the movie would be “Bring Him Home.”
It’s really high. And I don’t have a really good falsetto. It’s got no guts. Not like Colm’s. I contemplated bringing it down, but that wasn’t any easier. But the hardest scene to shoot was my final scene [Jean Valjean, surrounded by Cosette and Marius, is dying; Fantine reappears to bring him to heaven]. We shot it in a chapel. It was 40 degrees. You’re singing a song, and then you die at the end. Acting-wise, there’s a lot going on.
You are almost unrecognizable at the beginning of the movie, when you’re part of the chain gang. You look painfully thin, and you’ve got scabs everywhere. Not exactly the Hugh Jackman Broadway adores!
You’re very limited to what you can do onstage. Jean Valjean looks a little dirty
at the beginning of the musical, and then he comes back in the next scene with a fake beard and Javert doesn’t recognize him? Hello? For the movie, we wanted to show what life would have been like on parole in France in the 19th century. Tom Hooper said, “I’m going to turn you into an animal.”
The close-ups of you and the other actors are very powerful. They work because so many of the songs are internal monologues.
That’s right. The close-ups are also effective because Tim didn’t cut away too much. You feel you’re sitting in Anne Hathaway’s lap. At my audition — well, it wasn’t really an audition. It was four hours long. It was more like a workshop. On my way, I popped into Joan’s on 16th Street for a quick vocal lesson. While I was there, someone took the wheels from my bike. So I had to run to the audition, carrying my bike. I arrived and looked like a kid right out of drama school. Tim came in, and I thought we’d meet for 20 minutes. He pulled up a chair and sat 3 feet in front of my face. That’s how close the camera is going to be. We worked for four hours. It was the first time I ever asked to leave an audition. I’ve got kids, mate, I’ve got to leave! So I picked up my bike frame and walked all the way home.
Speaking of Anne Hathaway, that’s one hell of a performance. Did you know right away she was going to be that good?
Tom told me that when she first sang “I Dreamed a Dream” at her audition, he cried. Then he thought, “Wait a minute. I’m supposed to be the director. You don’t cry at an audition.” So he sort of pretended to give her notes and adjust her performance. She sang the song again, and he cried again. Her mother played Fantine in a national tour of “Les Misérables.” On the first day of rehearsal, Anne wore her mother’s 1988 denim jacket from the tour. I watched her rehearse the hospital scene in her city clothes. I thought, “Just take the hood off her back, and you can give her that Oscar right now.”
There’s talk that Cameron Mackintosh wants to make a movie of “Miss Saigon” next. You’d be great as The Engineer. Has he talked to you about that?
He has. I’ve never seen “Miss Saigon.” But I’m all for it. I hope “Les Misérables” leads to more movie musicals — but, selfishly, only if I can be in them!