Two of the lead roles in the musical this year, Les Miserables, are Jean Valjean, an ex-convict running away from the law, and Javert, a policeman that chases after Valjean. This is the first time juniors Sam St. Ours (Valjean) and Alex Hunter-Nickels (Javert) have been in lead roles.

Hunter-Nickels didn’t originally try out for a big role or even anything specific. “I wasn’t surprised but it wasn’t expected,” Hunter-Nickles said.

On the other hand, St. Ours hoped to get Marius, another lead, but got Valjean and was extremely surprised. “I didn’t even think of Valjean,” St. Ours said.

Since Les Miserables is almost all music they had a lot of songs to learn.

“I put the music on my I-Pod and listen to it as I go to school,” Hunter-Nickels said.

St. Ours prefers learning music to learning lines.

“I think it is a lot easier because [Les Miserables] is all music. I just have to learn songs,” St. Ours said. St

Javert is one of the main roles in Les Mis, but Hunter-Nickels prefers to think of himself as just another actor.

“It’s about how you think about it. I thought of it not as a big role but just a role I have,” Hunter-Nickels said.

Being the leads, St. Ours and Hunter-Nickels must polish their acting skills since large roles are in a lot of scenes. For Hunter-Nickels, it is very exhausting to play Javert.

“It’s depressing and emotionally exhausting because of [Javert’s] anger and sadness. I don’t ever do those things so it’s different. I also have to have strict posture,” said Hunter-Nickels.

But Javert is also like him in some ways. “My character changes throughout the play and is different in a different world which I can relate to,” Hunter-Nickels said.

St. Ours, on the other hand, finds it sometimes hard to relate to his character.

“I don’t see many similarities [between my character and I] but a part could compare to anyone because he changes so much,” St. Ours said.

A lot of the characters, including Valjean and Javert, in Les Miserables have very hard lives. They’re in jail, have no money or food, etc, so the actors have to get into character and feel like that so their role is believable. “ I think about how [Valjean] had 19 years in prison and with bigger roles, the background is already made so I can think about that,” St. Ours said. “I meditate, visualize scenes from childhood, and visualize that I’m in a jail with my dad and it’s cold and my mom is dead. That gets me in a state of depression,” Hunter-Nickels said.

Actors also need to get out of character so they don’t bring all the sad or angry feelings home with them. Hunter-Nickels does a lot of different activities to get out of Javert’s character. “I jam, ride home and sing to a CD, sometimes play ping-pong, or meditate,” Hunter-Nickels said. “That is never much of an issue for me. I always give hugs and there are lots of reasons to be happy,” said St. Ours.

You can see Les Miserables on February 15th, 16th, 17th, and 18th at 7:00 p.m. and on the 19th at 3:00 p.m.

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