'Les Misérables' adds original cast's Colm Wilkinson, Frances Ruffelle

Colm Wilkinson and Frances Ruffelle have joined the cast of the movie adaptation of Les Misérables.

Wilkinson was the first to play central character Jean Valjean in the West End and on Broadway, and Ruffelle originated the role of Éponine in London and New York.

Wilkinson will play a bishop and Ruffelle "the most fabulous wh*re" in the production, producer Cameron Mackintosh told the Daily Mail.



Mackintosh said: "Wilkinson will play the Bishop of Digne. He shows Valjean the road ahead, after Valjean has robbed him of silver candlesticks."

Hugh Jackman has been cast as Jean Valjean, the part made famous by Wilkinson. Singer Taylor Swift is reportedly in line to play Éponine.

Noting that Alan Parker was attached to an early attempt to adapt the musical in the late-1980s, Mackintosh added: "The gods have made the timing right, in that we now have the perfect Jean Valjean in Hugh, and the whole feeling about musicals has changed."

He also said that a number of West End performers would feature in the movie.

"It's the same as when the musical Oliver! was being made," Mackintosh explained. "Dozens - probably hundreds - of people from London stage shows took part."

Other cast members include Eddie Redmayne, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen.

Watch 'One Day More' from the Les Misérables tenth anniversary show starring Colm Wilkinson below:



Watch Eddie Redmayne talk about the Les Misérables cast below: