Royal Navy Plays Part In Les Miserables

As the big screen production of the smash hit play Les Misérables opens across the UK today eagle-eyed viewers may be able to spot several Senior Service connections. As well as sailors being used as extras in the film – playing the part of convicts dragging in a galleon in the first few minutes – many scenes were shot at 9 Dock in Portsmouth Naval Base and at the Old Royal Naval Academy in Greenwich.

Filming took place at the beginning of 2012 with one of the most dramatic scenes shot in Portsmouth in March as convicts are seen to battle a heavy storm while pulling a ship into the dock.

Chief Petty Officer Nathan Dua, 43, played the part of convict 363 who is one of hundreds seen pulling on the ropes at the start of the film.

After answering Universal Pictures’ request for thin, gaunt-looking men, Nathan spent two days on set dressed as a 19th century French convict and standing in waist deep water as rain, wind and wave machines simulated a fierce storm.

“Having spent 26 years in the Royal Navy, I thought I had experienced some pretty wild storms, but the storm effects generated on set of Les Mis was by far the wildest,” said Nathan.

"It was absolutely relentless – by the end of the day we were totally soaked.

"Even though I knew it’s a musical I didn’t realise that we’d all be singing at the start so we had to practise that the day before so we got it right for the scenes the next day. “

Nathan, who works as Fleet’s Eastern Photographic Manager based at HMS Excellent, Whale Island, was one of several Royal Navy personnel who took part.