After fifteen minutes, Éponine and Azelma discover that Cosette has taken their doll and tell their mother, who yells at Cosette. The bullet hole near Éponine's breast bleeds heavily, and she becomes short of breath. In her life of darkness is this beam of light in the form of one young beautiful student Marius. I never really buy love at first sight on stage because it looks performed. Eponine Thenardier is a character in the novel and musical Les Miserables. They try to escape, but Javert enters and arrests the Thénardiers and the street gang, while Valjean escapes unnoticed. I set it up and I’d do these one-woman shows of Cats, Evita, and Les Misérables. I so instantly connected with everyone in very different ways. But of course nothing is that easy. From the moral point of view of Torah (Dt 19:10), innocent life cannot be taken. After she does this, she asks Mabeuf of Marius' current whereabouts, and he tells her. While he is searching for a new weapon, a soldier makes it inside the barricade and aims at Marius. But yet, she dies trying to … Notably though, the musical's 2012 film adaptation instead followed the novel and had Gavroche deliver the letter while Valjean warns him to stay away from danger. Éponine takes the letter with no intention of delivering it. It’s got this amazing underlying spiritual tone to it. It was an out of body experience. So there was this sort of instant bond because we had all gone through the mill to get the parts. Samantha Barks: She’s such a relatable character. John Andrew Frey identified Éponine as a parallel figure to Fantine: "Eponine is symbolic of redeemed types found in Hugo's work—the Mary Magdalene fallen woman redeemed by a deep, albeit romantic and impossible love." She tries to have a conversation with him, but he is unresponsive. The film adaptation, opening Dec. 25, stays fairly true to the stage show, but Tom Hooper and company also added some narrative elements from Hugo’s novel, giving depth and backstories to characters that might have seemed too slight for the stage. You played Eponine for a year in London and then participated in the 25th Anniversary show. Pretty much all of Eponine’s decisions are influence by her love life. She is played by two actors, a young girl for Young Éponine in the Montfermeil scenes, and by a young woman for the adolescent Éponine in the later Parisian scenes. And finally, why do you think she loves Marius? I’m on Twitter and I get a lot of tweets saying, “I’m having such an Eponine day.” Or they’ll say “I’m listening to ‘On My Own’ and it’s totally summing up my day,” and I’m like, “It’ll be okay!”. She wears dirty and tattered clothing, consisting solely of a chemise and a skirt. Both sisters are released two weeks later due to lack of evidence. I don’t actually know what that was about. She once again looks at herself in Marius' mirror and sings. It turns out that the "philanthropist" is in reality Jean Valjean, as yet unrecognized by the Thénardiers and known by a different name, and he visits to inspect their circumstances. Hannah repays this kindness by sacrificing herself to save Rivka. But having somebody like Hugh as the foundation of it? Throughout the musical, the ragged, independent, and tragic Éponine is starkly contrasted with the demure, innocent, and sheltered Cosette. But Cosette—the cosseted Cosette—Hugo did not know our word or he would have seen the danger—is merely a pretty and rather selfish little doll, and her precious lover Marius is almost ineffable. Eddie Redmayne: My mom and dad took me and my brother to see Les Mis when I was about 8, and I basically hero-worshipped Gavroche. When I moved on to London, I was 16 and Les Mis was the first show I saw. Hugo depicts Éponine again in 1832. When she collapses, Marius notices her hair is damp and opens her coat to reveal that she has been shot in the chest. A Heart Full of Love. They were so lovely. – Eponine, the patron saint of broken-hearted girls everywhere, – Her first film experience and working with Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, and Anne Hathaway, – The not-so-glorious feeling of singing “On My Own” in the rain, – His X-Factor style audition process, – A set full of former Marius stars, and the torment of director Tom Hooper, – Love at first sight, and how Amanda Seyfried makes Cosette more sympathetic character. One can altruistically place his own life in jeopardy to save others, but one cannot willy nilly make that decision for another. Upon returning to New Rochelle in the present, Hannah learns that Rivka and Aunt Eva are the same person. I’ve actually just turned my back on my family. So she’s known nothing else other than a life of being kind of a criminal. Had you met her before? She also admits to him: "And still when I saw him aiming at you, I put up my hand upon the muzzle of the musket. There was this thing that would happen on the set that one by one you’d hear mumbles, like “Did you hear ‘I Dreamed a Dream’?” And then “On My Own,” and so on. Fetches Valjean. Next Page: Eddie Redmayne talks about the X-Factor style audition process…. I’d spent a few weeks on the barricade with just the guys, so by the time she arrived for “A Heart Full of Love” I was so excited to have another female on set! This page was last edited on 23 March 2021, at 00:08. It’s real. Éponine leaves the apartment and she and Azelma are sent outside the building to watch for the police. Although you can admire and respect all those incredible performances like those two women, you’ve got to do your own thing. We are helpless, even to “help” God save us. EW: What was your first experience with Les Mis? The musical gives a pointedly sympathetic depiction of Éponine, which has made her one of the show's most popular characters. That was really helpful. Your big number, “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,” came rather late in production. Fortunately, I was green enough not to realize it till about day six. A moment ago, he hear himself in her words, the young, pale Creon whose mind was too filled with thoughts of self-sacrifice. Eponine is so sexy!” But what I love is the quiet strength that Amanda brings to Cosette. "[3], George Saintsbury argued that Éponine is the most interesting character in the novel, but that Hugo, like Marius, did not take enough notice of her:[4]. Thinking it would be inappropriate to read the letter in front of her body, he gently lays her down and goes in a tavern to read it. How droll it is! And it wasn’t like normal rain. With Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, you’re not starting off lightly. Éponine and Marius already know each other before Marius meets Cosette. Me and Annie love singing together too. Eponine and Marius are not quite star-crossed lovers. Amanda (Seyfried) is so much fun! The player either can sacrifice Hannah to try to save at least one of the Washington sisters or take their chances with the cliff and hope the damage isn't too bad. She still loves her brother Gavroche. She finds solace in her love for Marius (Redmayne), the handsome student revolutionary who never returns the feelings. I’ve never worked with anybody on this scale!” So I was petrified. John Cornet [1]. Actresses playing Young Éponine and Young Cosette sometimes interchange roles in different performances to equalize performance opportunities and vocal strain. And I think that is sort of the main theme of Eponine. What was it like getting to work with him again? Also we were all kind of losing a lot of weight for the film, so we’d all be there to support each other on that and talk about diets and exercise regimes. Valjean promises to return later with money. In 1818, when Fantine and her illegitimate daughter Cosette come across the inn, Fantine sees Éponine and Azelma playing outside. You know how you sort of watch actors like lose weight, like Annie had to do in this film, or like Hugh had to do, or put on a huge amount? So rather than a singing exercise, it involved holding your tongue out and getting the back of your tongue strengthened. Éponine only appears as a child in the number "Castle on a Cloud", and does not witness Valjean giving Cosette a doll. Unique Womenswear Made in London. In the novel, Gavroche is sent to deliver it after Éponine's death. Following their parents' example, Éponine and Azelma are unkind to Cosette and treat her like a servant. The latter version was used in the, In the novel, Éponine asks Marius to kiss her forehead after she dies, and he does so. Did you feel like you had a leg up on the rest of the cast, having performed it so many times before? In the novel, it is mentioned that Éponine drinks. When he arrives and discovers that Cosette has departed, Éponine from a hiding place tells Marius that his friends are expecting him at the barricades at the Rue de la Chanvrerie, and she returns there. Fantine asks the Thénardiers to take care of Cosette while she goes to look for work in her home town. She spends her whole life in (basically) a whore house disguised as a "motel." Eponine knew who Cosette was before Marius introduced them at the end of "Plumet Attack". And Tom found it interesting. What was that like? In an effort to make his family look poorer, Thénardier orders Azelma to punch out the window, which she does, cutting her hand open. Did Frances or Lea give you any advice for playing Eponine? I couldn’t think of anyone better. The song is about how her world will be without him, and his life without her. Pitying her, Marius gives her five francs, and she thanks him in a chain of argot. It kind of moved me in ways I didn’t think anything could move me before. There is no reference of Marius and the Thénardier family living in apartments, for the musical shows them interacting with each other on the streets. And I think it’s an interesting theme, that love can give you strength. First in 1815 as the spoiled child of the crooked inn owners, the Thénardiers (played by Helena Bonham Carter and Sacha Baron Cohen), and then in 1832 as a young woman whose life has gotten worse. It was the fact that your costume is wet and it’s freezing. In My Life. James McGowan (trans), Charles Baudelaire, The Flowers of Evil, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998, p.371. As you navigate the situation, make sure you are both clear about your own desires and priorities. But Christ’s single-minded devotion or c… And now you’re this generation’s Eponine. Why should i save someone life, when they won't save mine. She sings On My Own, because when Cosette and Eponine are older, Cosette falls in love with a boy named Marius, who Eponine also loves. After six weeks of not finding Marius, she visits the churchwarden Mabeuf and offers to water his garden. They live next door to the apartment of Marius Pontmercy. [7] He may have used the name Éponine because of Charles Baudelaire's poem Les Petites Vieilles (Little Old Ladies) from Les Fleurs du Mal. In the. In the novel it’s especially terrible, as she convinces Marius to go to the barricade because she wants him to die with her there – if she can’t have him, no one else can. After Marius returns, Thénardier orders Éponine to search Marius’ apartment to see if he is there. She was always the theater nerd’s first experience with unrequited love. But biggest challenge wasn’t the rain dripping down your face. The students mourn her death, resolve to fight in her name, and take her body away. I was overwhelmed because I’d never done film before. They are not related at all, but they grow up together. How does Eponine get her father's gang to stop robbing Valjean's house? Disguised as a boy, she throws Valjean a note that says "remove". I filmed myself singing with my iPhone, sent it to my agent and was like “I do sing. I also sang with Lea Salonga, who was another famous Eponine who did the 10th Anniversary. And Alastair was told me that he’d found this idea that maybe Marius wrote poetry, and he almost had written it out before, so it’s like he’s reciting something. I felt like for film “Empty Chairs and Empty Tables” would have to be sung a different way. During the 1823 Christmas fair, Éponine and Azelma admire a big, beautiful and expensive doll in a shop window. She reveals that Gavroche is her brother, when they hear him singing nearby, and she tells Marius that Gavroche must not see her in case he "scolds" her. For by grace you have been saved through faith. Marius takes the package back to his apartment. Marius gets a family history, and Eponine is presented with more of a moral conflict, and they become richer characters because of it. And “On My Own” sums it up. Les Misérables: Highlights from the Motion Picture Soundtrack, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Éponine&oldid=1013700954, Articles using Infobox character with multiple unlabeled fields, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. But it was because I wanted to die before you." So many iconic people have played the role and there are so many renditions that you can’t imitate or mimic. She asks him to lay her on his knees, and then reveals to Marius that it was she who led him to the barricades, hoping that the two of them would die together. EW already talked to Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman about the roles of Fantine and Jean Valjean, now we hear what supporting actors Samantha Barks (a newcomer to film who played the role in London) and Eddie Redmayne (best known for My Week with Marilyn) had to say about creating that eternal long, lost love between Eponine and Marius. And then we got to sing together again with the original cast. When I heard they were making it I was in North Carolina playing a Texan meth addict cowboy [in Hick]. Distraught over the loss of Cosette, Marius goes to the barricade, armed with the two pistols Javert had given him, and uses them both during the fighting. Éponine first attempts to distract their attention by giving them friendly greetings. In his 1862 novel Les Misérables, the French author Victor Hugo used the name for a character who also aspires to die with her own beloved in a revolution. Paige Smallwood also impresses as Eponine, who provides a clear and strong pop belt to the unrequited love song "On My Own." I don’t think so. A satirical version of Éponine also appears in the musical Spamalot as part of a contingent of stereotypically "French" stock characters who emerge from the castle of Guy De Lombard in order to inspect the Trojan Rabbit left behind by King Arthur and his knights. For some people who have very empty lives or who go through really hard times, sometimes the one thing that keeps them on their feet is a burning love or desire for somebody. The crazy thing is, she instantly falls for him too. We’ve lost control!”, And then I have a makeup artist coming over and going “apparently it’s made of clay, very good for your skin!” And it’s like “Oh thanks, lovely to hear!”, Next Page: Redmayne on love at first sight, and how Amanda Seyfried makes Cosette a more sympathetic character…. She’s a good friend of mine, actually. It’s show-stopping, all right, because the plot of the play stops entirely in its tracks once Eponine opens her mouth. In fact, she protects Cosette and Jean Valjean's house from her father and his goons because she has such deep feelings for Marius. The character is introduced as a spoiled and pampered child, but appears later in the novel as a ragged and impoverished teenager who speaks in the argot of the Parisian streets, while retaining vestiges of her former charm and innocence. Her sister's name "Azelma" also derives from the name of a loyal wife who dies with her husband, the wife of Abdul-aziz, a north African warrior who fights Napoleon. They had some really helpful stuff. And then he put you down in the sewers too! As a character in the novel and the musical, Eponine has a far more interesting storyline, background, and demise. When that fails, she threatens to scream and alert the police and the neighborhood. At the time of her death in the musical, no speculation is made at first how and where Éponine is injured. Cosette quickly writes to tell Marius and pays Éponine, whom she mistakes for a workman, to deliver the letter to Marius. So much of what the singing teacher made us do was a muscular thing on your throat. I loved singing when I was a kid and then I did it a little bit at school and then at college, and then kind of stopped when acting became what I was interested in. Gavroche and Éponine are siblings. She is missing a few teeth, is barefoot, has tangled hair, bony shoulders, and heavy brooding drooping eyes, while the "grace of her youth was still struggling against the hideous old age brought on by debauchery and poverty" and has only a trace of beauty lingering upon her face. Éponine shields Marius from the musket ball, and Marius is unharmed. However, in the musical's 2012 film adaptation and in the 2014 Broadway revival, Éponine is injured in the same manner as the book. It was apparently clay something, and you’re swimming in it for a day and a half, you know? So now, even when I get to sing that song, literally the 7-year-old girl in my head is having a party. Not only was I singing this song over and over and over again, but I was in the freezing rain too. I just wanted to talk about girly things like cupcakes and stuff. Diction suffers in reconfigured 'Les Miserables' Salonga made history as the first Asian to play Eponine in the musical 'Les Miserables', which she returned to in 2006 as Fantine. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Jean Valjean, who has witnessed the scene, leaves the inn and buys the expensive doll. I grew up on a little island called the Isle of Man in the north of England. When did your love of musicals begin? The next evening, Éponine follows him to the house and is sitting by the gates lost in thought when Thénardier and his criminal companions arrive to rob the house. I was so excited to see her on screen! I’d just dream of seeing it. He returns a moment later and gives it to Cosette. Entertainment Weekly is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporation All Rights Reserved.