Hugh Jackman did not make his name on playing Wolverine. The Aussie started his career on stage with well-known roles in musicals before injecting his body with adamantium. On film, however, he has not had the chance to show off his singing and dancing skills on film since Oklahoma! in 1999. Well, perhaps that's about to change.
According to Variety, Hugh Jackman has been offered the leading role in the film adaptation of the musical Les Miserables, to be directed by this year's Oscar winner, Tom Hooper. It is most likely that Jackman would take on the leading role of Jean Valjean, a former prisoner who becomes a factory owner and mayor, starting in 1815 through the 1832 June Rebellion. Deadline also reports Paul Bettany has read and sung for the role of the villainous Javert.
If you haven't heard Jackman sing, then you didn't watch the Academy Awards in 2009. He also won a Tony for his leading performance in The Boy From Oz, a musical about the life and music of Australian singer/songwriter Peter Allen, who most famously married Liza Minelli and then left her upon realizing his homosexuality.
Based on the epic 1862 novel by Victor Hugo, the Cameron Mackintosh-produced musical Les Miserables is one of the most successful shows of all time, having long runs in Paris, London and New York. It was a critically successful show, pairing a complex story with catchy songs. It is also my mum’s favorite musical, if that counts for anything. Musicals have long been able to mix popular entertainment and award-winning capability, even in the last decade with Moulin Rouge!, Chicago and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Hooper can certainly deliver the goods on a story that's already beloved by many.
And finally: ‘do you hear the people sing?’