It couldn't be anything else, could it? Despite severely limited screen time, this was the role that truly confirmed Hathaway's status as a genuine A-lister, a top-tier acting talent, and won her the Best Supporting Actress award at pretty much every major ceremony going. She's visually striking in the role, having cut her hair and shed a lot of weight in order to convincingly portray Fantine, and her emotional vulnerability and destitution are utterly compelling and utterly authentic. She is the emotional anchor, the moral compass and biggest ghost of the narrative, and her performance is enough to transcend how short a time she actually appears. Her tragedy is palpable in Hathaway's hands, particularly in her performance of I Dreamed A Dream, which was a stunning acting sequence that showed the value of not over-dubbing the actors in song. Every time her voice breaks, it's like a knife cutting away at you.
NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far.
A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.
