She'll take your breath away with her beauty and dazzle you with her undeniable talent. Actress Anne Hathaway delivers the performance of a lifetime as Fantine in the new movie "Les Mis."
SHIREEN SANDOVAL: "The first thing I have to say is you're one hot bald chick!"
ANNE HATHAWAY: "it was my idea, but i really felt like it was required of the character and what we are doing is very once-in-a-lifetime for all of us."
"Les Misérables," set in the 19th Century, is about an ex-prisoner named Jean Valjean, played by Hugh Jackman, who's on a journey to escape his criminal past.
Along the way, Valjean meets Fantine (Hathaway's character) and grants her dying wish: that he take care of her daughter. Like everyone in the film, Anne auditioned to get the part with Oscar-winning director Tom Hooper.
ANNE HATHAWAY: "We sang through Fantine's part again, and again and again, and I had an idea it had gone well when Tom had told me, after singing "I Dreamed a Dream" for the first time, that he was crying, and I thought, 'Oh what a nice man, how tender he is'. And he said, 'Oh God, that song has never made me cry before, and I thought, that's exciting, maybe this audition is going well."
In movie musicals, usually the actors record the songs and lip sync later to film. But in this production, the singing was all live.
SHIREEN SANDOVAL: "What was it like having that live experience, and singing it straight to film?"
ANNE HATHAWAY: "It makes the film singular, for all of us, in all of our careers. I loved it, I loved having that mode of expression. It was very hard, it was very challenging, it was never anything less than fascinating, and it was completely worth it."
If you love "Les Mis" on stage, you're sure to love it on the big screen.
SHIREEN SANDOVAL: "How would you describe it differently than the theatrical version?"
ANNE HATHAWAY: "The thing that the movie gives you is that it's shot in a very realistic, gritty way, but we decided we were all in an alternative reality where everybody sings. If you were to take the music down and watch us acting, you would see a film being done."
Though onscreen just a short time, Anne's performance leaves a lasting impression.
SHIREEN SANDOVAL: "Has anyone said Oscar to you yet?"
ANNE HATHAWAY: "A couple of people, yeah…"
SHIREEN SANDOVAL: "I think so."