When Tom Hooper started casting for the film adaptation of Les Miserables, he didn’t exactly have to go searching hard for people who might be interested in appearing in the movie – in fact he barely had to go searching at all.

Hugh Jackman and Eddie Redmayne freely admitted to The Los Angeles Times that they weren’t shy in wanting to get involved with the script, whilst they said that many of Hollywood’s A-list were equally keen to get involved. However, the pair adopted slightly different ways of turning Hooper’s head, as they explained at The Envelope Screening Series for the film. Jackman revealed that he went as far as stalking Hooper for a bit, whilst Redmayne sent in his audition via iPhone.

Hooper was also at the discussion with the pair, and he pointed out that it took three hours of auditioning with Jackman to convince him to get rid of much of the script’s dialogue and focus on a full-blown musical affair: "The key to this is hiring actors who have such a facility, such a confidence expressing themselves through song," that audiences accept the altered reality being created, the director commented. Les Miserables is largely expected to feature in the Oscar nominations after a strong critical showing thus far. It’s released to the general public on Christmas Day.