Before Taylor Swift auditioned for her role in Cats, she was almost cast in another one of director Tom Hooper‘s movie-musicals. During a recent interview, the 47-year-old filmmaker revealed that back in 2012, the “You Need To Calm Down” songstress didn’t land the role of Éponine in Les Misérables for a very “flattering” reason.
“[Taylor] had auditioned for Les Mis. She rather brilliantly auditioned for Éponine,” he told Vulture in an interview released on Tuesday, December 24. “I didn’t cast her, but I got very close to it. 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.”
Despite not offering her the role in the Oscar-winning film, years later Tom remembered Taylor when it came to casting Cats.
“I knew she was curious to work on a musical,” he explained. “When this came up, I wrote to her and just said, ‘Would you like to meet? Would you like to see the world I’m creating?’ And I did a presentation…I had a ten-second clip of a dancer with fur, lifelike. That was my pitch. She loved it and was very gracious and really supportive from then on.”
The director also revealed how Taylor’s character came to be. As fans of the musical know, her role of Bombalurina is traditionally played as two separate characters, but in the recently released film, she became just one cat.
“For a long time, I thought, ‘Well, it’s going to be Taylor Swift and X.’ Then eventually, part of me was like, ‘Why does it have to be two people?’ I called Andrew [Lloyd Webber] and said, ‘Just remind me why.’ And he goes, ‘Oh, we only gave it to two people because we felt guilty that the other girl didn’t have enough to do.’ Apparently, it was originally designed for one person. I called Taylor up. ‘Do you mind if you do it by yourself? She was obviously totally happy with it.”
Love J-14? Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for fun, exclusive videos with your favorite stars.
