Below is a list of actors who portrayed Jean Valjean, both in the musical and movies.
List of professional production portrayals
Musical
- Maurice Barrier – Original French Concept Album, Original Paris stage cast
- Colm Wilkinson – Original London cast, Original Broadway cast, 1995: 10th Anniversary concert
- Gary Morris - Broadway Cast 1987-1988
- Michael Burgess – Original Canadian cast, 10th Anniversary concert (as one of the 17 Valjeans)
- Dave Willets- London cast replacement, various international tours including the 25th Anniversary Australian/ Asian tour
- Riles Phan – 1987 Glasgow cast
- Øystein Wiik - 1988-1989 Original Norwegian Cast, Berlin and West End, 10th Anniversary concert ( as one of the 17 Valjeans)
- Normie Rowe – 1987-1988 Original Australian Cast
- Rob Guest - 1988-1991 Australian and NZ cast replacement, 10th Anniversary concert (as one of the 17 Valjeans), 1998-99 Australian 25th Anniversary touring cast
- Zenon Bester, Krzysztof Stasierowski, Jerzy Jeszke - 1989-2000, Musical Theatre in Gdynia
- Stig Rossen- since 1989 appeared in various international casts
- Matthew Farrer – 1990 Fredicton cast
- Tommy Körberg – 1990 Stockholm cast, 10th Anniversary concert (as one of the 17 Valjeans)
- Robert Marien – 1991 Paris revival, 10th Anniversary concert (as one of the 17 Valjeans)
- Brian Lynch - 1991 Broadway production
- Pedro Ruy-Blas - 1992/94 Madrid Cast
- Sinan Osman – 1997 Florida cast
- Jeff Leyton - 1997 Concert in Chelmsford
- Takeshi Kaga - Original Japanese Cast, 10th Anniversary concert (as one of the 17 Valjeans), 1994 Japanese Red Cast and 1987-2001 Japanese Tour
- Sagae Takita - Original Japanese Cast and 1994 Japanese Blue Cast and 1987-2001 Japanese Tour
- Eugène Évariste Favager – 1998 Québec cast
- John Pascall – 1998 Dover tour
- Ivan Rutherford – 2000 US tour
- Ray Mangion - 2001 Malta tour
- Carlos Vittori - 2002 Commissioning Mexican scene
- J. Mark McVey - 2002 West End production
- Kiyotaka Imai - 2003 Japanese Violet Cast and 2003-2009 and 2011 Japanese tour
- Kazutaka Ishii - 2003 Japanese Light Blue Cast and 2003-2006 Japanese tour
- Tetsuya Bessho - 2003 Japanese Green Cast and 2003-2011 Japanese tour
- Yuichiro Yamaguchi - 2003 Japanese Orange Cast and 1997-2011 Japanese tour
- Alexander Gemignani – 2006 Broadway revival
- John Owen-Jones – 1997-2001 West End Cast, 2005-2007 West End Cast 2006-2008: Broadway revival, 2010-2011 West End Cast, 2015-2016 Broadway Cast and 2016 Dubai Cast
- Satoshi Hashimoto - 2007-2009 Japanese Tour
- Peter Avsenick, Jason Widdrington – 2008 Vancouver youth production
- Theo Nanos – 2009 St. John's cast
- Petr Gazdík, Jan Ježek - 2009 Czech Brno production
- Killian Donnelly - 2009-10 West End Cast (Alternate, u/s), 2017-18 West End Cast
- Gerónimo Rauch – 2010-2011 (Madrid). 2011-2012 (Barcelona)
- Ramin Karimloo – 2011-2012: The Queen's Theater, 2013 Toronto cast, 2013/14 Toronto tour, 2014 Broadway revival
- Alfie Boe – 25th Anniversary Concert at the O2, Current Broadway Cast, 2010-2011 West End Cast
- Mitsuo Yoshihara - 2011-2015 Japanese tour, 2013 Japanese 25th Anniversary tour and 2017 Japanese 30th Anniversary Tour
- Shoichi Fukui - 2013 Japanese 25th Anniversary tour, 2015 Japanese Tour and 2017 Japanese 30th Anniversary Tour
- Kim Hyun Joon - 2013 Japanese 25th Anniversary tour
- Gerónimo Rauch – 2012-2013: West End production.
- Jung Sung Hwa - 2013 25th Anniversary South Korean tour and 2015 Korean Revival
- Kim Sung-Min - 2013 25th Anniversary South Korean tour
- Daniel Koek - 2013-2014: West End Production
- Janusz Kruciński - 2010-2012 Roma Theatre in Warsaw
- RGS High Wycombe 2013 School Edition - Jonah Halton
- Damian Aleksander - 2010-2012 Roma Theatre in Warsaw
- Peter Lockyer - 2012/13 Toronto/25th Anniversary USA tour, 2014-16 West End Production
- Nicolás Martinelli – 2013-2014 Spain Tour
- Felipe Forastiere – 2014-2014 Spain Tour (alternate)
- Jonathan Williams - 2014-2015 West End Production
- Daniel Diges – 2014-2015 Spanish Tour
- Yang Joon Mo - 2015 Japanese Tour, 2017 Japanese 30th Anniversary Tour and 2015 Korean Revival
- Simon Gleeson - 2014/15/16 Australian Revival, 2016 Asia Tour, 2016-17 West End Cast
- Aaron Ferguson- Rainbow Stage, 2015
- Kyle Jean-Baptiste - Understudy in the role of Valjean on Broadway revival (2015)
Movies
- Maurice Costello – 1909 film
- Henry Krauss – 1913 films
- William Farnum – 1917 film
- Gabriel Gabrio – 1925 film
- Harry Baur – 1934 films
- Fredric March – 1935 film
- Gino Cervi – 1948 film
- Michael Rennie – 1952 film
- Jean Gabin – 1958 film
- Gastone Moschin – 1964 mini-series
- Frank Finlay – 1967 mini-series
- Georges Géret – 1972 mini-series
- Sergio Bustamante – 1973 series
- Richard Jordan – 1978 film
- Lino Ventura – 1982 film/1985 mini-series
- Liam Neeson – 1998 film
- Gérard Depardieu – 2000 mini-series
- Masashi Sugawara - Shōjo Cosette anime 2007
- Hugh Jackman – 2012 film