t was no surprise, given the success of the Lord of the Rings films and the Harry Potter adventures, that someone would get around to realizing C.S. Lewis's Narnia stories for the big screen. Well, the time is now, as Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media have tapped Shrek and Shrek 2 filmmaker Andrew Adamson to direct The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The Dec. 9 release, which sets the stage for a potential franchise, centers on the Pevensie siblings—Georgie Henley as Lucy, Anna Popplewell as Susan, Skandar Keynes as Edmund and William Moseley as Peter—who enter a wardrobe in World War II-era London and step out into the world of Narnia, a fantastical place brimming with exotic creatures, including a messianic lion (Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan), a half-man/half-goat (James McAvoy as Mr. Tumnus) and a seething, power-hungry witch (Tilda Swinton as Jadis).
Adamson, Henley, Popplewell, Keynes, Moseley, McAvoy and Swinton recently sat down with Science Fiction Weekly at a New York City hotel to talk about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Henley was paired with McAvoy, while Keynes was seated beside Swinton, and Popplewell was teamed with Moseley.
Andrew Adamson, did you ever have conversations with publicists about marketing the religious allegory of the movie?
Adamson: You know, I stay well clear of the marketing, 'cause I'm just not that good of it. I know that it's something that has been of great interest to the press, and I love the idea that they're talking about "Well, Disney is targeting this audience or that audience." Disney is targeting everyone. [Laughs.] Disney wants everyone to go and see this film, obviously. So no, I kind of stay clear of that. I really just, as I say, I made an adaptation of a book that I loved, and I made it true to the book. I think that people have interpreted this book in many different ways. Some people find spiritual meaning; some people find it an adventure. I think people can interpret the movie the same way they interpret the book, because I think it's very true to the book.
When you recorded the voice actors' dialogue, did you go about it the same way you did on the Shrek films?
Adamson: No, I did some of it before, some after. I found it useful particularly with people like Ray Winstone, because I was actually playing the off-screen characters, which I do in animation as well. I would play Mr. Beaver against the kids so that they had something to react to, and I could kind of direct them like I do in animation by altering my performance a little bit. And particularly with Ray, I wanted to get some sense, at least with his timing and cadence, because he has such a particular voice, so I recorded him ahead of time. It took me a long time to find Aslan, so I didn't record him until much later. It's kind of mixture of both, and then I went back and rerecorded. One of the nice things that I recommend to any director [is] put a CG character in your film because you'll have less reshoots. I was able to repurpose scenes by actually going back and altering what the CG character said and still use the same performance from the kids, and that helped me a lot in editorial.
Which of the kids' roles did you find the most important? Keynes certainly seems to have the most dramatic arc.
Adamson: Yes, he does, and he has the biggest arc in the book, so in some ways he was the easiest to cast, because even reading the book you kind of knew who he was, although it took a long time to find him. But I knew who that character was straightaway, where the other characters involved more development and more figuring out. Lucy was probably my biggest concern going in, partially because she is the youngest, and finding kids that are that age that are believable and convincing is very difficult. I was incredibly lucky. It was sort of interesting. I actually saw one tape that Pippa Hall, the casting agent, sent me. The reason I went with Pippa is she found Jamie Bell for Billy Elliot. But she sent me a tape of Georgie, and she was amongst a school group, and she was talking about a book she was reading, and she just said, "It's very sad." And she just changed to being sad, and I sort of saw in that the sense of empathy, which I think is a real acting talent, because Georgie is not really playing a role, she's living it. When James is upset, Georgie is upset, so when Mr. Tumnus is upset, Lucy is upset, and she just has this amazing capacity for empathy, and I think that's why she's so convincing on screen.
Anna Popplewell and William Moseley, what would say is the central message of the story?
Moseley: Good over evil.
Popplewell: I've been asked this question recently, and I've kind of managed to sum it up with: You've got to change yourself before you change the world. All of the kids go on these individual journeys and have to go through these personal reforms before they can actually save Narnia and before they are able to unite as a family and deal with all the stuff they have to deal with.
Moseley: I think it's about change, again, and it's about movement. But it's also about love. I know that's a weird, weird thing, and I don't want to make it sound clichéd, because it's not a clichéd film. But it's down to respect for others and respect for yourself, and the choices you make affect you. For me, personally, I felt that it was a moral battle, all about morality and [how] the path you choose defines who you'll be.
How ready and interested are both of you in reprising your roles if there's a sequel?
Popplewell: It'd be really fun for us to go back to Narnia.
Moseley: Why not?
Popplewell: Yeah, why not? But it's not really up to us, unfortunately. Actually, we don't really know very much about it. We've had this question a few times, and I'm starting to get a bit worried about it, because we don't really know what's going on.
Moseley: No, we actually don't know what's going on. And people seem to know more than we do.
Of the other Lewis stories, which would you most like to see done next?
Popplewell: Well, I'm only in Prince Caspian, but I would like to see The Magician's Nephew, because I love that book.
Moseley: I think if we do Prince Caspian it'd be a lot of fun. Lots of fighting. You can't go far wrong with that. So that'd be good fun.
Do you have a sense of being a part of something important here?
Popplewell: Definitely. Taking on this responsibility was a big deal. Assuming and adopting characters that millions and millions of readers had already imagined beforehand was a big responsibility, and we really wanted to live up to all those expectations.
Moseley: We're just very, very lucky to be a part of it, to be a part of something that's so influential to so many people. I only hope that we do live up to expectations and deliver up to the level of the story.
Which characteristics of your characters do you most relate to?
Moseley: I think I relate most to the moral dilemmas of my life, and trying to do what's right. I really try to do what's right a lot of the time, and whether that always works out that way, whether it always does or doesn't, it doesn't really matter. I just really understand where Peter comes from, that he wants to keep his family safe and he wants to make them a happy family rather than a family that's torn apart. I understand that.
Popplewell: When I read the books initially I hadn't really singled Susan out as somebody who I was going to be or who I'd identify with. But having played her and having played with her, there are definitely elements of similarity. There were also some key differences. But I can be a bit sensible at times.
Anna, you were also in The Little Vampire several years ago. That was also based on a popular kids' book. How different an experience was that to make?
Popplewell: Jeez, you've read your stuff. We've buried my CV and crossed these things off it. It is different. It is different being a part of something so well known. But I think I went into all of these films and all of my projects with the same attitude, which is to just try to do my best, really get into the character and into the role. Coming at something when you're 15 is different to doing something when you're 8. It was all just fun, really [when I was younger].
Georgie Henley, were you surprised the first time you saw James McAvoy in makeup?
Henley: It was really cool. I was a bit shocked at first. "What have they done to James?" But, you know, you do get used to it.
McAvoy: Yeah.
Henley: Don't you?
McAvoy: Yeah.
The ears on Mr. Tumnus were cute.
McAvoy: The ears were weird, man.
Were they uncomfortable?
McAvoy: I don't like the ears.
Henley: Your ears were cool, though.
Georgie, you're playing with your Happy Meal action figure. How odd is it to have one of those? Not a lot of people do.
Henley: No, not a lot of people do. It's a little bit strange, especially when you're carrying a parcel. Don't see what's the point in that. But it's pretty cool.
For the both of you. What do you relate to most about your character?
Henley: What I love about Lucy is she's so pure. She's very trusting and brave and forgiving and basically loving and loyal. She's not exactly perfect, but she's a lovely little girl. And like I said, she is very pure, and that's one of the best qualities I think that any person could have, to be very pure.
McAvoy: When Lucy comes to Narnia she rekindles something in Tumnus, and Tumnus has a lot in common with Lucy in that he's able to love and give friendship kind of indiscriminately. That's what I love most about him. But he's kind of given up a little. He's taken employ under the White Witch and he's given up. He thinks everything gone. He's lost hope. She comes back and his hope is kind of rekindled. He starts to question himself and what he's capable of in a bad way and in a good way, and then he tries to be as perfect as she is.
Tilda Swinton and Skandar Keynes, how much of your own stunts did you do?
Keynes: Yes. I did all my own stunts.
Swinton: Even eating Turkish delight, which was the biggest stunt of all.
What is Turkish delight, actually?
Swinton: Well, there are those who will tell you it's the most delicious thing on Earth, and there are those who will tell you it's disgusting, and I'm in the latter camp. It tastes of soap.
Keynes: They actually made a fiberglass one with a talcum powder.
Is it a pastry?
Keynes: It's delicious if you have the really good stuff in small amounts. Not in industrial quantities.
Swinton: It's like a jello. ... I can't think of a Western equivalent.
Keynes: It's one of those things that if you hold in your hand too long it will start molding over your hand.
Swinton: It's like something you'd get from a joke shop.
Tilda, you've mixed big-budget studio films and low-budget art-house films throughout your career. What compels you to say yes to the bigger films?
Swinton: Honestly, I'm not aware of having a career; I'm aware of having a life, and I just choose the friends I want to hang out with for however long it is that it takes to make a film. Particularly in the independent world, that can mean years, so you need to pick well. I learned very early on, when I was spoiled with my working experience with Derek Jarman, through my work for nine years on seven films, that friendship's the best thing you can find on a film set. It's worth sticking with your mates, really. So I'm always looking for people who I want to hang out with. I've been very, very fortunate.
But, in pure business terms, doesn't a Constantine or a Narnia help drive your fans to the smaller films or at least help them get some financing based on your increased name recognition?
Swinton: There are people who I'm associated with who would be nodding right now, and they would probably say yes. There's no doubt about it, I'm thrilled, truly thrilled at the idea that maybe, thanks to Walt Disney, people might, if we pull it off, go and seek out Derek Jarman films or Lynn Hershman films, and that really gives me a thrill. And it might make it easier for me to get films made in the future. That would be a great bonus. But having said that, I would have made this film with Andrew Adamson if he had wanted to make it in a parking lot on $200,000. I really would. It was a sort of an added joke that it was this juggernaut and we went to the set in helicopters every day.
Back to the top.
