He’s best known for playing Wolverine, but Hugh Jackman’s also a Tony Award-winning showman with a powerful singing voice. When he was cast in Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables as Jean Valjean, cinephiles the world over rejoiced — but what about the other roles?
Well, it seems that we may finally have the answer. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Russell Crowe and Helena Bonham Carter are negotiating for significant roles in the film. Crowe is in talks for the major role of heartless inspector Javert, a primary antagonist of Jackman’s Valjean. Carter, if negotiations go as planned, will play the greedy Madame Thénardier.
Crowe doesn’t have experience in film musicals, but he actually boasts an impressive singing voice. Meanwhile, Carter expertly carried the character of Mrs. Lovett in Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
The two actors seem perfect for their respective roles, but Hooper still doesn’t have it easy. Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserables is to this day one of the most significant pieces of literature ever, partly due to the highly successful musical on which this film will be based.
It's a bit suprising that it's taken this long for the stage musical to transition to film, even though a non-musical adaptation of the novel hit in 1998. Hooper’s Les Miserables is set to arrive on December 7, 2012, just in time for Oscar season — if that should come as a shock.