Samantha Jane Barks (born 2 October 1990) is a Manx actress and singer who rose to fame after placing third in the BBC talent show-themed television series I'd Do Anything in 2008. She has released three studio albums: Looking in Your Eyes (2007), Samantha Barks (2016), and Into the Unknown (2021), and made her film debut as Éponine in the Tom Hooper-directed Les Misérables in 2012. Her performance in the film won her the Empire Award for Best Female Newcomer and a shared National Board of Review Award with the film's cast. Barks starred opposite Jonathan Bailey in the Disney Channel musical-comedy Groove High (2012–2013) and again, in the London revival of the musical The Last Five Years in 2016. In 2018, she originated the role of Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman: The Musical on Broadway. Since 2021, she has played Elsa in the West End production of Frozen, though she took some time off for maternity leave.
I'd Do Anything was a 2008 talent show-themed television series produced by the BBC in the United Kingdom and broadcast on BBC One. It premièred on 15 March 2008. The show searched for a new, unknown lead to play Nancy and three young performers who will take it in turns to play Oliver in a West End revival of the British musical Oliver!. The show, named after the song "I'd Do Anything", was hosted by Graham Norton with Andrew Lloyd Webber again overseeing the programme, together with theatrica...
Eight celebrities embark on a 12-day expedition in the rainforest of Costa Rica, where they must learn to navigate difficult terrain, build shelters, make fire and eat the food that nature provides. From abseiling down ferocious waterfalls to crossing perilous rapids, the stars face a range of challenges and Bear himself eliminates one of them each week, leaving three in the final....
A series of pop-culture parodies using stop-motion animation of toys, action figures and dolls. The title character was an ordinary chicken until he was run down by a car and subsequently brought back to life in cyborg form by mad scientist Fritz Huhnmorder, who tortures Robot Chicken by forcing him to watch a random selection of TV shows, the sketches that make up the body of each episode....
The series will search for two ingénues to play the roles of Sophie and Sky in MAMMA MIA! in London's West End. Throughout the series, musical theatre hopefuls will be put through their paces as they navigate their way through challenges, masterclasses, and performances. Filmed against the beautiful backdrop of the idyllic Greek islands, where the original MAMMA MIA! story is set....
...
Talented Broadway newcomer Samantha Barks, who is delighting audiences as Vivian Ward in Pretty Woman: The Musical, will lead Broadway.com's new vlog, Lady in Red, which will follow Barks and her co-stars backstage and onstage at the Nederlander Theatre where the exciting new musical is thrilling audiences eight times a week....
An adaptation of the successful stage musical based on Victor Hugo's classic novel set in 19th-century France. Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both men's lives, and soon Valjean finds himself in the midst of the student revolutions in France....
This concert, recorded to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the landmark musical Les Miserables, gathers the casts of the show's 2010 original production at the Queen's Theatre, the 1985 original production by the London company, and the 2010 production at the Barbican together for one performance. Together with talents like Michael Ball, Hadley Fraser, and John Owen-Jones, the performers present the play's musical numbers in a semi-theatrical style, fully costumed and with all the emotion of th...
Deep in the heart of the English countryside lies the enchanting village of Gladbury. Legend has it every 25 years an angel visits the village candlemaker and touches a single candle. Whoever lights this candle receives a miracle on Christmas Eve. But in 1890, at the dawn of the electric age, this centuries old legend may come to an end....
Follows Crowe's passion for music and his efforts of maintaining it alongside his acting career, showcasing him and his band on their recent tour in Europe, as well as previous shows in the US, UK and Australia....
Set between the two World Wars and based on true historical events, Bitter Harvest conveys the untold story of the Holodomor, the genocidal famine engineered by the tyrant Joseph Stalin. The film displays a powerful tale of love, honour, rebellion and survival at a time when Ukraine was forced to adjust to the horrifying territorial ambitions of the burgeoning Soviet Union....
In Scotland 1874, Jack is born on the coldest day ever. Because of the extreme cold, his heart stops beating. The responsible midwife in Edinburgh finds a way to save him by replacing his heart with a clock. So he lives and remains under the midwife's protective care. But he must not get angry or excited because that endangers his life by causing his clock to stop working. Worse than that, when he grows up, he has to face the fact he cannot fall in love because that too could stop his delicate h...
Young princess Anna of Arendelle dreams about finding true love at her sister Elsa’s coronation. Fate takes her on a dangerous journey in an attempt to end the eternal winter that has fallen over the kingdom. She's accompanied by ice delivery man Kristoff, his reindeer Sven, and snowman Olaf. On an adventure where she will find out what friendship, courage, family, and true love really means....
The incredible tale of Mozart's Prague years....
What started off as a whirlwind romance takes an unexpected turn when Mark discovers his beautiful bride-to-be is plotting against him. In cahoots with an old school buddy, they hatch a plan to take half of Mark’s £20 million fortune and use it for their own happy ending. What they don’t realize is that Mark is one step ahead of them....
From Victor Hugo`s classic French novel of the nineteenth century to Tom Hooper`s award winning blockbuster, Les Misérables has undergone one of the most successful transitions from book to stage to screen. In this new documentary, the scintillating journey of Hugo`s universal story is traced from book to stage to screen with contributions from those who have starred in and helped to create the entertainment phenomenon which has captured a place in everyone`s hearts. Helmed by entertainment and ...
Do opposites really attract? Cool chick Casey (Samantha Barks) and tightly wound Aaron (Simon Lipkin) are hoping so. These two New York City singles have been set up by friends and family, but from the outset this First Date seems to be doomed. The two have nothing in common… But with the help of a meddling but well-meaning waiter, and a host of other characters along the way, can this mismatched pair turn what could be a dating disaster into something special before the check arrives? With a c...
The musical follows the relationships of what at first seems like two different couples separated by a span of time; one couple is getting married and the other is getting divorced. It turns out they are actually the same couple at two points in their relationship—a decade apart....