2. Amanda Seyfried and Isabelle Allen as Cosette - Les Miserables
I will not lie to anyone here, I didn't see Les Miserables. I have been gifted enough to have grown up not far from New York City and was able to see the Broadway show. The show brought me to tears and I didn't even understand all of it - I wasn't very old at the time. I feel musicals are a lot like hallucinogens. The first trip will always be your best, so why ruin it with a second, especially if that second has Anne Hathaway in it? I kid, I kid. When I saw the poster for Les Miserables, however, I was completely taken by the picture of Isabelle Allen, dirty and wide-eyed with thin strands of blond hair whizzing around in the wind. I thought, "wow, is that a picture of Amanda Seyfried?". I am well aware of what SFX crews can do with a human face (Looper, anyone?) and thought, surely, Allen was altered in some way to look more like Seyfried. I stood corrected. The two could be sisters. Hair dye aside, I think the discovery of Allen for one of the biggest movies made in the last few years was a serious gain towards the success of the film. Had Cosette looked any different as a child than she did as Seyfried, I think the illusion would have been shattered. I have no doubt that Allen acted as well as she looked, otherwise the casting director would have looked right through her and the role would have been awarded to another hopeful. I look forward to seeing what Allen comes out with next and I hope to see her act along side Seyfriend again.