BWW Interviews: David Thaxton of LES MISERABLES!
By: Carrie Dunn Jun. 20, 2014
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"It is like a family," says David Thaxton. He's returning to Les Miserables as Javert, following his earlier very successful run as Enjolras, and is looking forward to being back in a company that he describes as friendly and loyal.
"It's a show I know so incredibly well. At the end of this year, I'll have been a professional actor for ten years, and been in Les Mis for five of them - half of my career in one building! It's a piece I know inside out, and feels like it's become part of me."
Playing Javert is very different from playing a revolutionary student, however; the tenacious police officer is often dismissed as just an antagonist - but Thaxton argues he's much more complicated and nuanced than that.
"I've never thought of Javert as a bad guy - Thenardier is the villain of the piece," he says. "I can see why people might say that or get lulled into that, because it's a very dark world he inhabits. He's very principled and very troubled.
"That line in Confrontation - about him being born inside a jail - is the most interesting in the whole show, and it happens while somebody else is singing! But that's my job as an actor - use what I've got and explore it to its fullest."
He's not the first Les Mis alumni to return to the show in a different role - think of Lea Salonga, Eponine and later Fantine, or Hadley Fraser, Marius and then Javert, alongside Ramin Karimloo, another former Enjolras who came back as Jean Valjean. It presents its own practical challenges, though.
"It's very interesting to take on something new, but I find myself having to force myself not to sing Enjolras lines!" he says. "It's like a weird rewiring in my head. But Javert is a fantastic role in a brilliant show and I'm really excited."
David Thaxton plays Javert in Les Miserables now.
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