Dominic West on Les Miserables and Jean Valjean: ‘He’s the greatest hero’

When we think of heroes we tend to think Spider-Man or Batman. We probably don’t think of this guy.

Dominic West is most often stopped in the street for one of four roles, and they couldn’t be more different.

If he’s stopped by a fan who seems a bit less enthusiastic and bit more thoughtful, he knows they’re going to want to talk about The Wire. If someone is very enthusiastic and a bit older, it’s going to be a fan of The Affair.

If they’re younger, they’ll probably bring up Johnny English 2 or 300.

West says his “guess rate” of what kind of fan they’ll reveal themselves to be is 100 per cent accurate.

The English actor has worked prolifically across both sides of the Atlantic and no matter where he is, there will be someone who’s surprised he’s not American.

From Money Monster and Mona Lisa Smile to Tomb Raider and The Hour, his credits across TV and films hint at his versatility as an actor.

West brings that versatility to a mammoth tale, the six-hour BBC non-musical adaptation of Les Miserables, drawn from Victor Hugo’s original book, and co-starring David Oyelowo, Lily Collins, Ellie Bamber and Olivia Colman.

Dominic West, despite having impressive pipes, does not get to sing

West tells news.com.au he had never read the book or seen the musical or even another version of it. But he went from virgin to convert.

“I read the book over Christmas the year before last and it was revelatory,” he says. “I think it’s the best book I’ve ever read. It’s better than Tolstoy — it’s just amazing stuff.

“To be able to give the story six hours, that’s what’s different about this series. It’s necessarily quite reductive if it has to be squeezed into a musical or film of two hours. There are so many amazing subplots and storylines and narrative twists.”

Despite it being a 150-year-old story set during in post-Revolution France, West has compared his character, Jean Valjean, to a very modern superhero.

“He’s the greatest hero in literature. He’s a proto-superhero like Spider-Man, he climbs up buildings and rescues children or he climbs up masts of ships and rescues drowning sailors.

“He’s engaged in an essential conflict with his darker side, a heroic struggle against his bad behaviour, trying to overcome his demons. Anyone can empathise with that and can admire that.”

The impressive cast also includes David Oyelowo, Lily Collins and Olivia Colman. Photographer: Mitch Jenkins

The lavish production, written by famed British TV scribe Andrew Davies (Bleak House, Pride & Prejudice, House of Cards) filmed in northern France and Belgium in the dead of winter.

“God, we were cold,” West says with a sardonic laugh. “We were really cold. When we started we were in this amazing, huge medieval castle or manor house outside Brussels and it was unbelievably cold.

“And then there was one scene when I’m dragging Marius through the mud on the banks of a river and it was 2am, and there was fake rain, which is always colder than real rain. We were covered in mud!

“I think we virtually had hypothermia doing that. We could only do a couple of takes and had to be rushed back to hotel rooms and get in the hot shower.”

But he insists, almost madly, fondly, it was quite fun.

Dominic West is best known for playing McNulty in The Wire

Les Miserables is the first time West has an executive producer credit, a role he asked for knowing he was now in a position in his career to do so — and he wanted to see dailies (review footage) of how the production was progressing.

“You’re a bit powerless as an actor and you’re in the hands of everybody else so it’s nice to have a bit of a voice in how the whole thing looks.

“It’s set against this huge backdrop and then there are very intimate stories. So I really wanted to be involved and see as much of it as I could.”

For fans of the Les Miserables musical, it’s a shame they won’t get to see West croon through the part, even though he has impressive pipes.

“I think I would’ve loved to have sung it, and I love musicals and have always wanted to sing them. The only one I’ve done is My Fair Lady, and it was actually written for a non-singer.”

West says he kept trying to break into song during the production but people kept telling him to be quiet.

He concedes, laughing, “I think that’s probably reflective of my voice more than anything else.”

Les Miserables starts this Sunday, March 10 at 8.30pm on BBC First on Foxtel and Fetch.

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