Les Miserables -2012 May 2026

When the film premiered, a critic wrote that Jackman’s performance sounded like a man "singing on the edge of his own destruction." They meant it as praise. They had no idea how literal it was.

Years later, Jackman admitted in an interview: "I probably shouldn't have done it. I might have done permanent damage. But Valjean gives everything he has for others. For those few minutes, I wanted to know what that felt like." les miserables -2012

And that, in the end, is the most Les Misérables story of all: an actor destroying himself to give a performance about a man who destroys himself—all to bring a moment of grace to a darkened screen. When the film premiered, a critic wrote that

For most of the cast, this was grueling but manageable. For Hugh Jackman, playing Jean Valjean, it became a waking nightmare. I might have done permanent damage