Les Misérables" runaway star in film comeback Although she has enjoyed a variety of roles since, she has never recaptured that level of stardom and her appearance in the new film lasts for less than 10 minutes. Ahead of its release, she has described the impact of that emotional period - and said that she has no regrets. "The film's London premiere [last month] was very emotional," she said. I cried a lot throughout, not just because of the story, but because of the memories it brought back. By the end, I was so emotional, I couldn't speak. After becoming pregnant at the age of 21, she had planned to continue as Éponine for four months but had hyperemesis gravidarum, or severe pregnancy sickness, which is the condition that affected the Duchess of Cambridge. I couldn't do anything, I was so nauseous. I didn't tell anyone I was pregnant. All I wanted was to be with my family, so overnight I just boarded a plane and went home. I left all the stuff in my flat. There were stories in the paper about the disappearing actress," she said. I thought it would just be for a few days, but I was too ill to return. Nobody said anything horrible, although I think they [Mackintosh and Nunn] were really angry with me. She said: "It was terrible timing, I wasn't expecting to have a child, but I was in love and I have no regrets - Eliza's been my best production." Her daughter is the 24-year-old pop star Eliza Doolittle, who is continuing the family's long involvement in showbusiness. Ruffelle, who was born in the East End of London, is the daughter of Sylvia Young, who founded the famous London stage school - although Ruffelle did not benefit too much from its teachings: she was expelled by her mother. "I was 15 years old, a wayward teenager who talked back, and my mother decided she couldn't teach me, but I ended up with a private tutor for my O levels," she said. That did not stop her from winning a role in the original run of Starlight Express three years later. Then, in 1985, Sir Trevor, the director of the show, cast her in Les Misérables. She recalled that the cast, which included Michael Ball and Roger Allam, realised that they were rehearsing something exceptional. "The first run-through was a disaster, not because it was bad, quite the opposite, but because we were all so emotionally involved in the story, none of us could stop crying and it was very difficult to sing at all," she said. The previews received standing ovations, as did the first night at the Barbican. But the reviews were scathing. "A load of sentimental old tosh," wrote one critic. "A witless and synthetic entertainment," declared another. We were all in total shock, rumours were flying around that the production would close," Ruffelle said. The producer, Sir Cameron, had only 24 hours to decide whether to still transfer the show to the West End. He took the risk and Les Misérables has played ever since, making it the West End's longest-running show after The Mousetrap. More than 60 million people in 42 countries have seen the production in 21 languages, garnering £1 billion in ticket sales. Every single night there was a standing ovation. After a while you would think, 'Oh hurry up, I want to go to the pub,""" she said. I don't think I was as grateful as I should have been. I look back and think, 'My God, you were so lucky. Despite a rule that any actor absent 30 minutes before curtain-up would be replaced by an understudy, she regularly arrived with only five minutes to spare. The others would lie, say I was in the toilet. I never warmed up ... I'd just cough and go on, and slap on my make-up and dirt as the show went on. Sometimes, after Éponine's death, she would go shopping, returning for the curtain call. "Once between the matinee and the evening performance, I had my belly button pierced," she said. When the show transferred to Broadway after a year, Ruffelle and Colm Wilkinson, the actor who played Valjean and features in the film as the Bishop of Digne, were the only cast members to travel with it. Ruffelle found herself the toast of New York. I was invited to every party. All the big American stars came to see us backstage: the cast of Dallas, Richard Gere, Michael Douglas ... I loved it and realised how lucky I was to be there, but I also felt very lonely. Her performance won her a Tony award. Afterwards, Ruffelle was inundated with offers but she discovered that she was pregnant. The father was the show's married co-director John Caird, who was 17 years her senior. The pair married and had a son, Nathaniel, 22, together before divorcing. She went on to have a third son, Felix. Since motherhood, Ruffelle has been cast in a variety of roles, but never reattained her early superstardom. Now the limelight is on Eliza, whose first album went platinum in the UK. "Of course I worry about her, but she's so mature, much more so than me," Ruffelle said. Now that her youngest son is 17, Ruffelle is focusing on work again, adding: "I no longer feel torn between being a good mother and a good actress." The turning point has come just as the world is newly fascinated by the musical that made her name. Sir Cameron put her up for the film cameo. [The director] Tom Hooper was very sweet at rehearsals. He said, 'Here's the icon of the show, Frances, share any thoughts. But I didn't, I was too shy. Frances Ruffelle plays the title role in Piaf at the Curve Leicester from Feb 22 to March 16. Les Misérables is released on Friday.