(dramatic piano music) - Saying goodbye to Fantine once I was done was almost like a sigh of relief, but a breath of fresh air.
It was interesting, because I was so sad to have been done with the project, but I also feel like playing her woke me up to a whole new side of my potential.
- [Dominic] That scene where she's dying, which she shot first, was so affecting for me, because it came out of the blue, 'cause it was our day one.
- How is she, Monsieur?
How is she?
- [Dominic] It was really cold.
It was dark, there was no electricity.
And I thought, "God, this couldn't be worse."
And then she had to go straight into the most difficult, the most emotionally demanding scene that she was gonna have to do, and she hit it, you know, bang on.
That was day one, and I thought, "Oh, right, okay, we're really in business here, "and we've really gotta step up."
- You promised.
- Lily set the bar for all our acting, and I think without her doing that on the first day, this would not have been the show that I think it is, and that we would not have reached the heights that I think we did.
- Lily did such an amazing job of tearing you apart with what she was going through, that even for me as Javert, it was an opportunity to just go, "Okay, we're gonna take a moment."
There is a version of that character, that, even for Javert, he'd just stay irritable, keep it moving, there was just no way.
You'd have to literally be the devil himself to not take a moment with the humanity of what she was doing, so for Javert, the character, he very much is able to put his humanity aside for David the actor, you know, I was kind of in awe.
(sobbing) - Even though Fantine's not physically present for the entire amount of Les Mis, it's kind of her spirit and that beacon of hope that she provides that kinda propels the storyline forward.
- Forgive me.
- [Lily] When she dies, it's really sad, but it's also hopeful, because now you hope that she will have allowed her daughter to have the life that she wants.
I felt like saying goodbye to her was saying goodbye to a little bit of me, but also introducing myself to new sides of myself, so it was kind of this weird juxtaposition of being sad, but also really excited.
It it was an amazing opportunity and role.
