Grégory Gadebois leads the cast of Éric Besnard’s Jean Valjean
- Bernard Campan, Isabelle Carré and Alexandra Lamy also star in this adaptation of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, which is currently in the shooting phase and produced by Radar Films

Tuesday 14 January has seen filming kick off on Jean Valjean, Éric Besnard’s 10th feature film after Ca$h [+see also:
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film profile] (earning €6.2m worldwide in 2016) and Miss Violet [+see also:
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film profile] (650,000 admissions in France last year), to name but three of his works. On this occasion, the director is embarking on an adaptation of Victor Hugo’s classic novel Les Misérables.
For the lead role, Gadebois is once again turning to Grégory Gadebois (awarded 2012’s Best Newcomer César for Angel & Tony [+see also:
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film profile], A Great Friend and Miss Violet. The actor is just one in a long line of performers to have played Jean Valjean on the big screen, ranging from Jean Gabin to Hugh Jackman, and from Liam Neeson, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Lino Ventura and Gino Cervi to Harry Baur.
Joining him in the cast are Bernard Campan (nominated for 2003’s Best Actor César thanks to Beautiful Memories [+see also:
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film profile], among other works), Isabelle Carré (reuniting with the director having previously worked together on Délicieux and having won the 2003 Best Actress César for Beautiful Memories, having been nominated for the same trophy in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2011, and currently touring French cinemas in Child of True Love) and Alexandra Lamy (recently seen in The Book of Wonders and Miss Violet).
Written by Éric Besnard, the story follows an encounter between two men, between extreme hardship and gentle benevolence, and between a miserable man and a righteous man… In the peaceful village of Digne, there’s a rumour that a dangerous man has entered the area. On the verge of sleeping outside, the latter knocks on the door of a small house. Jean Valjean thinks he’ll be rejected, lost after spending 19 years in prison. But against all odds, Bienvenu invites him in for supper and offers him a bed. Despite the convict’s lingering mistrust, humanity seems to return to him, beneath his suffering…
Jean Valjean is being produced by Clément Miserez and Matthieu Warter for Radar Films, in co-production with France 3 Cinéma. Pre-purchased by Ciné+/OCS and HBO Max, the feature film also enjoys support from the SOFICA companies Entourage and Cinécap. The 34-day film shoot will take place in the Sud region of France, in Luberon’s regional nature park, with Laurent Dailland (nominated for the 1999 and 2010 Césars in his speciality) heading up photography. Distribution in France will fall to Warner Bros.
(Translated from French)
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