'Les Miserables' Star Anne Hathaway On Her Performance: 'Eh'

Anne Hathaway has received some of the best reviews of her career for "Les Miserables," just not necessarily from herself.

In Tom Hooper's new film, Hathaway stars as Fantine, a doomed single mother-turned-prostitute who sings one of the musical's standout songs: "I Dreamed a Dream." Hooper had the cast perform live on the "Les Miserables" set, which meant each actor had to sing multiple times per scene before getting the songs right. According to a new profile of Hathaway in The Los Angeles Times, Hooper told the actress that she nailed her scene on the fourth take. Not that she was pleased: Hathaway sang "I Dreamed a Dream" 20 more times before stopping.

"I was like, 'Fair enough.' I never bettered [the fourth take]," she said. When The Times' Amy Kaufman asked Hathaway if she was pleased with the performance, she replied, "Eh."

Hathaway's modesty notwithstanding, the 30-year-old star was incredibly moved with the final version of "Les Miserables" and her show-stopping scene.

"I cry, but I think it's because I'm still connected to the experience of making it, the process," Hathaway told MTV about watching "I Dreamed a Dream." "For me, when I see it, I actually have to be aware when I'm doing press, because it brings me a lot closer to Fantine. She's so broken that I actually have to protect myself a little bit. So when I saw it, I did cry, but not because of what I was doing [on screen]. It was because I was back in the process of making it. The rest of the film made me bawl like a baby."

For more on Hathaway's career and performance in "Les Miserables," check out the excellent Times profile.

[via LAT]