Musicals are a lost art in Hollywood these days. One of the few stars who found success in the genre is Amanda Seyfried, who headlined both Mamma Mia! and its sequel where she wowed the audience with her singing. Yet, the actress admitted in a recent interview with Variety that she has not always had a strong showing as a singer, going so far as to say that her performance in 2012's Les Miserables still gives her nightmares.

"In my career I have had a lot of moments where I just felt complete regret. I wish I could redo 'Les Misérables' completely because of the live singing aspect, I still have nightmares about it. Singing is more indulgent than acting in some ways. I feel like when I have emotional scenes, where I get to really cry and feel what I'm actually feeling and be present in that, it feels really good and cathartic because crying is really cathartic. Singing is the same way. Just like, emoting through music and melody is so magical. When you feel like you've gotten there, where your voice is where it needs to be and your voice is as strong as it needs to be. And it wasn't on ['Les Misérables']."

Unlike Mamma Mia!, which was meant to be a fun romp through ABBA's discography, Les Misérables was very much supposed to be a super serious prestige project. The movie featured an A-list cast of actors including Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Eddie Redmayne, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter, and Sacha Baron Cohen, coming together to adapt the critically-acclaimed stage musical of the same name, which in turn was an adaptation of the 1962 french novel by Victor Hugo.

In Les Misérables, Seyfried played the role of Cosette, daughter of the central character Fantine, who leaves her to be looked after by the Thénardiers, who exploit and abuse her. Cosette finds an unlikely father figure in Jean Valjean. Seyfried's character had the bulk of the romantic storylines in the movie, which meant a lot of soulful singing. According to the actress, she was not trained enough at the time to pull off some of the more complex musical pieces in the film but feels she would do a better job with the role now.

"I was very weak. I feel like I could definitely play Cosette now. I've been working diligently ever since 'Les Misérables' to strengthen my voice and to have some stamina. Plus working on my vibrato, which was completely lost. From a very technical standpoint, I was very unhappy with my singing."

Amusingly, despite Seyfried's critical attitude towards her own work, her performance was praised by critics, and she was generally considered a bright spot in a muddled movie. It was Russell Crowe who bore the brunt of criticism by reviewers who felt his singing was not up to scratch for a musical. Still, Les Misérables ended up making more than $400 million at the box office, and that is something the entire cast of the film can be thankful for.