Lily Collins reveals why the BBC’s new Les Misérables adaptation is different to what you’ve seen before

Most of us know the story of Les Misérables pretty well, whether that’s through seeing the stage play or watching the many adaptations from over the years, including the 2012 blockbuster starring Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway.

But even those who think they know the story well might just be surprised by BBC One’s upcoming version of the famous French tale penned by Victor Hugo in the 1800s.

That’s because the new six-part series, with more time at its disposal than a movie, follows the story of Hugo’s lengthy book much more closely, giving audiences time to learn more about the past of Fantine (played by Lily Collins).

In the stage musical we meet Fantine as she's heading towards rock bottom and many Les Mis fans will know Anne Hathaway’s haunting and Oscar-winning performance of I Dreamed A Dream which sees the character in a state of despair.

Andrew Davies, who wrote the BBC’s new version, wanted to introduce viewers to a new side of Fantine and elaborate on her back story as told in the original novel. The upcoming version spends a whole episode detailing the happy relationship which resulted in Cosette’s birth.

“There’s a scene in the musical movie where Anne Hathaway’s singing and there’s a lyric that explains that she fell in love and had a child. We had a whole episode [to tell that story],” Lily Collins told press including Goodhousekeeping.co.uk at an event introducing the series.

“It’s kind of amazing that we get to take a song lyric and really explain it in a way that we haven’t seen before. It was a real joy to be able to bring it to life in that way,” she added.

The actor added that this new approach to depicting Fantine “took a lot of pressure off” playing such an iconic role.

“You’re never going to be everyone’s version of a character everyone loves and admired, you can only be your version, and this was our collective version and I’m really proud of it,” she said.

While Collins’ Fantine certainly has differences to Hathaway’s performance, the two women did discuss the role and the Oscar winner shared her advice.

Lily told press that she met Anne briefly in May, when she was in the middle of shooting Les Mis and had already filmed her death scene (the series was shot backwards so Lily filmed her demise first then her happier days).

“I didn’t ask for any advice but she said to me: ‘Don’t lose yourself because it can get really tough – that’s a really overwhelming character.’ It goes very deep and it’s very emotional. The essence of what she was saying was cling on to reality because it can go down a very dark path,” Lily said.

Lily didn’t tell Anne she had already filmed her darkest scenes but could definitely relate to her words of wisdom.

“I personally as an actor have never gone that low and it was a really powerful experience for me to let go and give it all up to the moment,” Lily said.

The series starring Lily as well as Dominic West as Jean Valjean and David Oyelowo as Inspector Javert begins at 9pm on 30 December, BBC One.