TAHAR RAHIM SPEAKS ABOUT LES MISÉRABLES BY FRED CAVAYÉ (SSIF’26)

In Les Misérables, Tahar Rahim steps into one of Victor Hugo’s most enduring and morally rigid figures: Javert. Rather than approaching him simply as the embodiment of law and authority, Rahim looks for the fractures beneath the uniform; the buried origins, contradictions and private wounds that shape a man determined to impose order on a world he increasingly fails to understand. In this conversation, the French actor discusses building empathy for a character so often reduced to an antagonist, the moment Javert begins to question everything he believes in, and why Hugo’s vision of injustice, identity and social chaos remains as universal and unsettling as ever.

Alejandra Hernández: You had already played morally complex characters, such as Amin in Alpha. What was different about taking on Javert?

Tahar Rahim.: I can't really compare the preparation for Javert with the preparation for Amin in Alpha, because the preparation for Amin was extremely difficult, intense and demanding. That said, I don't leave anything to chance. Studying Javert in depth was essential because he is such a complex character, surrounded by a great deal of mystery in the book. With Frédéric, the director, we wanted to explore him and bring more light to who he is, where he comes from, where he is going and, above all, why he ultimately makes the decision he does. The book says very little about Javert's mother, but that was a fascinating starting point for understanding him and creating empathy for the character.

A.H.: There is a scene in which Javert watches the uprising from a window. What did you imagine he was thinking at that moment? Was that the moment when his final decision began to take shape?

T.R.: Yes, that is the moment when he begins to make the decision to disappear. I think that when he hears Valjean saying that, by trying to impose order, you can actually create chaos, Javert begins to see the chaos he himself has participated in. His methods are not working and never will. He believes he is doing the right thing and that he can establish balance in this chaotic world, but he realizes that he has contributed to creating something even more chaotic. I think that is when he tells himself that he no longer has a place in this world. He is already deeply wounded by his history, his experiences and his life, and I think that, for him, this becomes his only form of liberation and peace.

A.H.: ‘Les Misérables’ is deeply connected to French history and identity. What did it mean to you to participate in a new French adaptation and play one of its most recognisable characters?

T.R.: I was very, very honored to participate in an adaptation of a work by Victor Hugo, and even more so of this particular work. It is a story that takes place in France, within a specifically French historical context, but the structure of the work is universal and timeless. That is why I don't think you can reduce ‘Les Misérables’ simply to France. That is precisely why the whole world has continued to adapt it throughout history. Hugo had the genius to capture and tell a world that unfortunately existed, exists and will continue to exist, and to make it accessible to everyone.

A.H.: Victor Hugo presents Javert as someone obsessed with dividing the world between the guilty and the innocent. Was there something specific from the book that you wanted to bring into your interpretation?

T.R.: What interested me was precisely that small detail about his mother. The film is really about characters who are all, in different ways, miserable people trying to escape their condition. The fact that Javert's mother belonged to the Traveller community, and that he tries to erase that part of himself, tells us something important. That is what allowed us to develop Javert and, I hope, give him more empathy and understanding rather than simply presenting him as a rigid policeman who applies the law. He has an idea of the law, but he is wrong. He will eventually realize that he was wrong. Victor Hugo wrote something very important for me in understanding the character: “Javert is all the bad in the good.”

Questions by @alejandracaas