Anne Hathaway was afraid to cut her hair short for a role in the film adaption of Les Miserables.

The actress was forced to get the chop for the role of Fantine in Tom Hooper’s big-screen adaptation of the classic.

"It was terrifying. I didn't expect it because in this film [The Dark Knight Rises], I do backflips out of windows, I jump off of buildings, I do all sorts of scary things but nothing was as scary as cutting my hair off," she said.

Anne and her fiancé Adam Shulman

The Devil Wears Prada actress said it was an emotional experience.

"I was really surprised by that. I don't know why - it was a big dramatic change that could have gone very, very badly," she explained.

"I didn't realise how much my identity was tied to hair. But it was good to take that up."

Les Miserables also stars Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe and will be released in December.

The actress most recently starred in The Dark Knight Rises, the final installment of the Batman trilogy.

Anne Hathaway stars as Catwoman in the latest Batman flick