Anne Hathaway is up for an Academy Award for her role as Fantine — a prostitute with a heart of gold — in this year's "Les Misérables."
But before Hathaway filled Fantine's bustier, a number of Hollywood's top actresses were vying for the role.
Among them, Scarlett Johansson, who was previously rumored to be in the running for the role of Eponine — which ended up going to newcomer Samantha Barks.
Johansson recently opened up to Broadway.com, which asked the actress whether she had auditioned for the part.
"Yes, I did. I sang my little heart out," the 28-year-old "Avengers" actress revealed for the first time.
But there was one hitch: "I auditioned with laryngitis ... I did everything I could to, like, not have laryngitis."
Not that she was nervous about it, adding "The jazz hands kid inside me was just over the moon!"
But, alas, Johansson has come to accept that the role wasn't meant to be.
"I think, looking at the film now, there's no possible way I ever could have topped that performance [by Anne Hathaway]," she explains. "It was perfect and I think fateful and meant to be."
But it did remind her of auditioning for the role of Cosette when she was a child and "it was fun for me to revisit that," she says.
Johansson is currently channeling her younger stage actress self on Broadway in "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof."
"Lucky for me, it all worked out," she continued to Broadway.com. "It’s great to be back. It’s very exciting to have the opportunity to bring Tennessee Williams to life every night and share that with the audience, who’ve been really enthusiastic."
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