Why Taylor Swift was turned down for a huge role in Les Miserables

Before she was a nightmare-inducing CGI cat with a human face, she almost scored this gig. Photo / Getty Images

Taylor Swift nearly landed a role in the 2012 film Les Miserables.

Director Tom Hooper explained in a new interview that while Swift "rather brilliantly auditioned" for a role in the adaptation, he ultimately passed on casting the superstar.

"I didn't cast her, but I got very close to it. Ultimately, I couldn't quite believe Taylor Swift was a girl people would overlook," Hooper told Vulture.

"So it didn't quite feel right for her for the most flattering reason."

The role went to actress Samantha Barks instead.

Swift would get her chance on the big screen seven years later in Hooper's newly-released Cats.

However, Swift may have been better off in Les Miserables as the $144 million adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats, which came out in the US last week, bombed at the US box office, taking in just $9.4 million in ticket sales its first weekend.

To put that number in perspective, Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, which opened for preview showings on the same night in the US, took in almost $58 million in the same time frame.

Critics haven't liked the film much better, with the movie drawing an 18 per cent fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Cats, which stars Judi Dench, Ian McKellen, Idris Elba, James Corden, Jason Derulo, Jennifer Hudson, Rebel Wilson and Taylor Swift, tells the story of a group of cats coming together to decide which one will go to heaven.

When the trailer dropped in July, it was heavily criticised by fans who found the mix of live-action filming and CGI to transform the all-star cast into furry singing felines rather frightening.

Cats hit cinemas in New Zealand yesterday.