Get ready to celebrate the holidays with two talented British singers. Les Misérables stand-out Samantha Barks will star opposite music sensation Susan Boyle in the upcoming British yuletide movie The Christmas Candle, according to BBC News. This marks the film debut for Boyle, whose role has yet to be announced. Barks and the rest of the cast have already begun filming in the U.K.
Based on a novella by preacher and author Max Lucado, The Christmas Candle takes place in an English village in the 1890s, where blessed candles throughout the village begin to answer its residents' prayers.
Boyle became an overnight superstar in 2009 after her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” blew away judges and audiences alike on Britain’s Got Talent. She went on to record three best-selling albums and was the subject of the bio musical I Dreamed a Dream.
Barks was most recently seen in the Oscar-winning film adaptation of Les Miz. She rose to fame after appearing on the BBC reality competition show I’d Do Anything, where she won third place in the running to play Nancy in a West End revival of Oliver! She made her West End debut as Eponine in Les Miserables, a role she reprised in the show’s 25th anniversary concert at London’s O2 Arena, and again in the hit film. Now Les Miz producer Cameron Mackintosh hopes the actress will again play Nancy in a Broadway revival of Oliver!, as well as in a film remake of the classic musical.
Get in the (very early!) Christmas spirit by watching Boyle perform "O Holy Night" below!