LES MIS' Samantha Barks to Star in Big Screen Adaptation of Stage Musical STRIKE!

Empireonline reports that LES MISERABLES' Samantha Barks is set to star in a new Canadian movie musical, STRIKE!, a big screen adaptation of the original stage show. Folk singer Alan Doyle and Barenaked Ladies' singer Steven Page are also attached to the film, to be directed by Joseph Novak.

Original STRIKE! musical collaborators Danny Schur and Rick Chafe will co-write the screenplay. STRIKE! is set during the 1919 general strike in the Canadian city of Winnipeg. Barks will portray Rebecca Almazoff, described as "a Jewish woman who begins an illicit affair with a Catholic man as the industrial action rages."

In a recent interview with the Winnipeg Free Press, the actress said of the project, "I listened to this musical and just loved the music so much...I really fell in love with this character - she's very ahead of her time, she's a suffragette, and I love her passion and her forward thinking, and how she sees the world how it could be rather than how it is. I was really moved by that."

Production on the project is set to get underway this summer.

Barks will next be seen in Bitter Harvest and A Hundred Streets, both scheduled to hit theaters later this year. She recently led a NYC workshop of the new musical AMELIE. Her theatre credits include: Chicago (Hollywood Bowl, LA); 24 Hour Plays (LA); Oliver! (UK tour); LES MISERABLES (Queen's); LES MISERABLES - 25th Anniversary (O2); Cabaret (Birmingham Rep). Film includes: The Devil's Harvest; Dracula Untold; The Christmas Candle; LES MISERABLES; A Hundred Streets. Television includes: Groove High.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos