Taylor Swift Had A “Nightmare” Screen Test with Eddie Redmayne for ‘Les Miserables’

In 2011, when Tim Hooper was casting the bounty of actors who would bring Les Miserables to life in his film adaptation, which released the following year, Taylor Swift threw her hat in the ring for the role of Éponine (along with Miley Cyrus, Lea Michele, and Scarlett Johansson). Now, while promoting her latest album Midnights on Friday’s (Oct. 28) episode of The Graham Norton Show, the singer opened up about her “nightmare” screen test with film actor Eddie Redmayne.

Swift explained that her looks cost her the part of Éponine, who she described as a “19th-century street urchin” (dubbed by Redmayne). During her talk show appearance, she was sat beside her, at the time, potential co-star Redmayne, and the two began to talk about their audition process for the acclaimed musical.

“There’s a lot that people don’t know about this story. Basically, I was auditioning for two roles in Les Mis. I had done a few auditions and gone to New York, and whatever,” said Swift. “I think it had been established that I had more of a look of Cosette, but I had the range vocally of Eponine.”

She continued, “So, I was there for a good time, not a long time.” The production team offered the singer, who had previously made her acting debut in Valentine’s Day, the chance to fly to London and screen test with Redmayne. Swift, who is a long-time fan of Redmayne, jumped at the opportunity, not knowing that they were going to dirty her appearance prior to the test. She said that they gave her brown teeth and “big circles under [her] eyes like [she’s] near death.”

“This immediately became a nightmare for me,” Swift added. But, Redmayne reassured her that she wasn’t the only one having an embarrassing moment as he had just eaten garlic knots before their intimate reading.

The “You Belong With Me” singer ended up losing the role to Samantha Barks from the West End production. Hooper reflected on the casting choice in 2019, saying, “She [Swift] had auditioned for Les Mis. She rather brilliantly auditioned for Éponine. I didn’t cast her, but I got very close to it.”

He added, “Ultimately, I couldn’t quite believe Taylor Swift was a girl people would overlook. So it didn’t quite feel right for her for the most flattering reason.” However, Hooper ended up casting Swift in the 2019 flop Cats, which he wrote, directed, and produced.