Taylor Swift Reveals She Auditioned For Eponine In Tom Hooper's LES MISERABLES; Reveals New CATS Song Details

In a new interview with Variety, Taylor Swift has revealed she has previously auditioned for CATS director Tom Hooper for the 2012 film adaptation of Les Misérables.

"I had actually done screen tests for 'Les Miz' and had met (Hooper) through that process, like 2012," Swift revealed. "I didn't get it, but it was such an amazing experience just doing the screen test. And I was obviously like, 'I'm not going to get this,' because the other girl was amazing and was on the West End - Samantha Barks; she's incredible and she fully killed the role and was amazing. ... I just had a good time doing the screen tests." But there were no tryouts involved by the time everyone got to 2018: "When I was approached this time, it was a straight-up offer..." said Swift.

She also revealed how her new collaboration with Andrew Lloyd Webber came to be.

"He's playing this, and I'm running through all the score of 'Cats,' like, 'This is not in the original musical.' .... There's no top line. So, a top line on a song is the words and the melody that somebody sings. So if you have a song stuck in your head, chances are you're singing the top line. What he has got is this beautiful instrumental piece. As soon as he starts playing it, I start singing the top line."

"I knew where in the movie they were going to put her song... I had been kind of gathering data, but I had no idea what the song was like. I didn't have sheet music... I knew that it would be right after Jennifer Hudson sings 'Memory.' I thought, wouldn't it be interesting if you had this little young kitten reflect off of what she just heard and give sort of her counter point of view? Because 'Memory' is Grizabella singing about how she had all these beautiful, incredible moments in her past. She had these glittering occasions and she felt beautiful and she felt wanted and now she doesn't feel that way anymore. And I was just thinking, okay, so what if you've got this little kitten that's been deserted and kind of tossed out by her owners, and she's had to wander around the streets of London wondering where she's going to find a home."

"Wouldn't she be thinking, 'At least you had those amazing memories'? Basically, the first line that came to me was like, 'And the memories were lost long ago, but at least you have beautiful ghosts.' ... I learned later that they had this beautiful piece of music, but they didn't know what they wanted the cat to say. So I was like, 'Got you.' Like, 'I know what that cat would say.'"

Oscar®-winning director Tom Hooper (The King's Speech, Les Misérables, The Danish Girl) transforms Andrew Lloyd Webber's record-shattering stage musical into a breakthrough cinematic event.

Cats stars James Corden, Judi Dench, Jason Derulo, Idris Elba, Jennifer Hudson, Ian McKellen, Taylor Swift, Rebel Wilson and introduces Royal Ballet principal dancer Francesca Hayward in her feature film debut.

Featuring Lloyd Webber's iconic music and a world-class cast of dancers under the guidance of Tony-winning choreographer Andy Blankenbuehler (Hamilton, In the Heights), the film reimagines the musical for a new generation with spectacular production design, state-of-the-art technology, and dance styles ranging from classical ballet to contemporary, hip-hop to jazz, street dance to tap.

The film also stars Robbie Fairchild (Broadway's An American in Paris), Laurie Davidson (TNT's Will), hip-hop dance sensation Les Twins (Larry and Laurent Bourgeois), acclaimed dancer Mette Towley (featured in videos for Rihanna and Pharrell Williams' N.E.R.D.), Royal Ballet principal dancer Steven McRae, and rising-star singer Bluey Robinson.

Universal Pictures presents a Working Title Films and Amblin Entertainment production, in association with Monumental Pictures and The Really Useful Group. Cats is produced by Debra Hayward, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Tom Hooper. The screenplay is by Lee Hall (Billy Elliot, Rocketman) and Hooper, based on Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T.S. Eliot and the stage musical by Lloyd Webber. Cats is executive produced by Lloyd Webber, Steven Spielberg, Angela Morrison and Jo Burn.

One of the longest-running shows in West End and Broadway history, the stage musical "Cats" received its world premiere at the New London Theatre in 1981, where it played for 21 years and earned the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards for Best Musical. In 1983, the Broadway production became the recipient of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and ran for an extraordinary 18 years. Since opening in London in 1981, "Cats" has continuously appeared on stage around the globe, to date having played to 81 million people in more than fifty countries and in nineteen languages. It is one of the most successful musicals of all time.