'Cats' Director Reveals Why Taylor Swift Was Not In 'Les Miserables'

“Cats” director Tom Hooper has surprised everyone by revealing that Taylor Swift could have been part of 2012’s “Les Miserables” because she auditioned for the role of Eponine in the blockbuster movie.

But sadly, Hooper believed that Swift was not an accurate choice for the character.

Speaking in an interview with Vulture, the 47-year-old filmmaker noted that the “You Need To Calm Down” hitmaker “brilliantly” auditioned for “Les Miserables” and was considered to be part of the movie. But later, he realized that it would be really difficult for the people to overlook Swift and so he made the decision to not cast her for the film.

“She had auditioned for ‘Les Miserables’. She rather brilliantly auditioned for Eponine. I did not cast her, but I got very close to it. Ultimately, I could not believe Taylor Swift was a girl people would overlook. So it did not quite feel right for her for the most flattering reason,” Hooper said.

The role eventually went to Samantha Banks.

Later in the interview, the Academy Award-winning director noted that the “Bad Blood” singer wanted to do a musical for a very long time and he decided to cast the songstress in his latest movie after showing a presentation of the world he was creating.

The “King’s Speech” helmer further stated that he wrote to her and told her about the world he was going to create for the new movie “Cats” and showed the singer a ten-second clip of a dancer with fur. Though he was skeptical of Swift’s reaction, the 30-year-old musician absolutely loved the idea and supported Hooper throughout the film.

“I had a ten-second clip of a dancer with fur, lifelike. That was my pitch. She loved it and was very gracious and really supportive from then on,” Hooper said.

But the filmmaker admitted that he did not know Swift would go on to become a lyricist for the movie.

Hooper’s comments come a few weeks after the ten-time Grammy award-winning musician admitted that she had an amazing time while shooting the movie because she absolutely adored the “weirdness” of it. The “Shake It Off” hitmaker further stated that she might not get an opportunity to portray a character like this on the screen again, so she enjoyed every bit of it.

The movie, based on the stage musical of the same name by Andrew Lloyd Webber, revolves around a tribe of cats called the Jellicles who must decide which cat will ascend to the Heaviside Layer and come back to a new life.

Unfortunately, the film turned out to be a dud at the box office and got panned by the critics as well. A report by Daily Mail suggests that the movie has already been removed from Universal’s “For Your Consideration” website after receiving negative reviews.

The film, starring Judi Dench, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson and James Corden, currently has a score of 18 percent on review site Rotten Tomatoes.