Les Mis star Hugh Jackman felt strange acting with original Valjean

Thespian Colm Wilkinson gave Hugh Jackman his blessing to portray Jean Valjean in movie musical Les Miserables after originating the role onstage in London and New York.

Wilkinson has a small role in the new film and plays opposite Jackman in one scene, but the Australian star felt strange playing the part that his co-star is famous for.

He tells EW.com, "It felt odd because Colm was one of the most famous people to ever play the role. I saw him a year before when I did the film, when I was doing my one-man stage show, and it was great to meet him and work with him. There was this strange feeling of him saying, 'Hey man, it's all yours. It's all good.'

"I did ask him a couple questions, but I remember him saying at one point, 'It doesn't matter in the end. What matters is you do it your way.' He said, 'I've been to some shows, and I see them trying to do it the way I did. And I actually didn't do it the way it was written. In the end, the way it was written didn't really serve me, so I changed it. And now people think that's how it was written, when it wasn't.'"