Hugh Jackman - Hugh Jackman's 'Full-on' Les Miserables Role

Hugh Jackman's 'Full-on' Les Miserables Role

Hugh Jackman says shooting the film version of 'Les Miserables' has been ''full-on''.

The 43-year-old actor - who plays Jean Valjean in the movie adaptation of the popular musical - sings his songs live in the movie alongside his fellow cast members, and he admits the motion picture ''feels immediate and real'' just like the emotional production.

He said: ''So much of your brain is on the miming, then you've got to act. The very first scene that I'm in, we were close to the Alps. It was below zero, it was very windy and you can see steam, you can hear the cold in my voice. It feels immediate and real.

'''Les Misérables' is one of the most emotive musicals ever written. There's no walk in the park scene. Everything is full-on.''

Director Tom Hooper has ensured the movie - which also stars Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway and Amanda Seyfried - is a sung-through musical like the original production and he decided to have the cast sing the production's 40 songs live, but the filmmaker insists there is ''nothing camp'' about the motion picture and it is ''very masculine''.

In a joint interview with Empire magazine, he added: ''There is nothing camp about this musical.

''It is very grounded, very masculine and very strong about the big universal themes. It's not first and foremost a musical. It's first and foremost a terrific story that uses the musical form to express itself.''

This month's Empire magazine is on sale today (26.07.12).

'Les Misérables' is out on January 11, 2013.