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THE
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe, which came out in 2005, has become one of
the most successful films of all time, rubbing
box-office shoulders with the likes of such blockbuster
franchises as Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.
Not surprisingly, then, Disney has reunited director
Andrew Adamson and the four young British actors who
played the Pevensie children for a second installment of
author C.S. Lewis’s beloved stories, The Chronicles
of Narnia: Prince Caspian. The new film finds the
Pevensie siblings returning to a Narnia that’s very
different from the place they left behind at the end of
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The White
Witch may be dead but Aslan has also disappeared, and
the tyrannical King Miraz now holds the enchanted
country in an unforgiving, iron grip; having driven
Narnia’s mythical creatures and talking animals into
hiding. Summoned back to Narnia just as they are about
to return to school in wartime England, the Pevensies
must embark on a perilous attempt to save Narnia’s
inhabitants from annihilation and also restore the
rightful ruler, the young Prince Caspian, to the throne.
WELCOME TO THE FOLD,
“I was
definitely the new kid on the block, but everyone was so
wonderfully welcoming,” says Barnes—here with William
Moseley as Peter Pevensie—of joining the original Narnia
cast and crew.
After a
search that stretched across three continents, it was
26-year-old Ben Barnes who won the coveted title role in
the new film, and will also appear in the third
Chronicles of Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn
Treader, which is scheduled to go into production in
the summer of 2008. Although he had a small role in the
recently released Stardust, the British-born
actor is best known for his stage work, especially his
performance as the predatory Dakin in the National
Theatre’s production of The History Boys in
London’s West End. “Ben flew to Los Angeles straight
after a Saturday performance and it was pretty clear
right away that we had found our man,” says
Chronicles of Narnia producer Mark Johnson. “He’s
like a movie star in the old tradition: he’s
tremendously good looking and has a real intensity and
charisma about him.”
Presumably, you saw the first Chronicles of Narnia
film as an audience member. How do you think Prince
Caspian will compare with The Lion, the Witch and
the Wardrobe?
I think
it’s going to be much darker than the first film. The
fact that the villain in this one, King Miraz, is human
automatically makes it more real, and there are Narnians
who die in this story, as opposed to just being turned
to stone and revived later. There’s also a lot more
action. The battle scenes are going to be enormous.
There
must be thousands of other young actors who hate you for
getting this part. Did you, at least, have to go through
an endless round of auditions, meetings and screen
tests?
I know
they had been looking for someone for a long time, but I
actually came to it in very last minute. I went in for a
quick meeting with the casting director in London, met
the director, Andrew, and some of the producers the next
week, and did an afternoon of screen tests in Los
Angeles, and then I had the part. I was on a plane to
have my costume fitting just a few days after that, so
from start to finish it was a two-and-a-half week
process.
What was
your reaction when you heard you had got the part?
I found
out at about
three o’clock in the morning because it was on American time, and I ran
around the house screaming. It was just one of those
life-changing moments.
Had you
read The Chronicles of Narnia when you were a
child?
When I
went in for my first meeting for the film, I found my
copy of Prince Caspian on the bookshelf at home.
And it was a 1991 edition, so I would have been eight,
and I remember my dad reading the books to me and doing
all the silly voices. I also remember watching the BBC
Narnia series that was on at the time. Then, when I went
to university, one of my special topics was children’s
literature, so I was very familiar with it.
You
obviously didn’t have a lot of time to prepare before
you started shooting. Were you already good at
horse-riding and sword-fighting?
That’s a
bit of a sore point. [Laughs] I hadn’t really done much
of either before. They asked me in one of the auditions,
“How is your horse-riding?” So I just went, “Oh,
average,” and completely tried to gloss over the
question. I rang my mum afterward and said, “Have I ever
been horse-riding?’ It turned out I did, once, when I
was eight. But it all worked out fine in the end. The
first three weeks in New Zealand were very intensive for
me, learning lots of stunts and sword-training and
horse-riding. (The film was shot on locations in
New Zealand,
Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic.) It was like a
little boy’s dream come true, though my mother still
can’t hear the word “Ben” and “horse” in the same
sentence without getting the giggles, because I was
never much of an animal person. I’m like “Mum, stop it,
I’m taking this seriously, I’m a proper horse rider
now.”
This is
your first role on such a big film. Has anything about
the filmmaking process surprised you?
Just the
size and scale of it. I think there were nearly a
thousand people working on this film, which is
extraordinary to me. And the sets were breathtaking.
There’s a huge indoor forest and a massive castle, and
the first time I walked onto the castle set I was
completely awestruck. You can’t just walk in and pretend
to be cool about it, because there’s a functional
drawbridge and a functional portcullis and balconies you
can stand on at the top of these tall towers.
For many
of the cast and crew, including the four actors who play
the Pevensies, Prince Caspian is the second time they
have all worked together. You’re the newcomer. Was
everybody mean to you on your first day?
I was
definitely the new kid on the block, but everyone was so
wonderfully welcoming. I’m sure people roll their eyes
when they read someone in an interview saying, “We’re
like a real family.” You kind of think it’s ridiculous.
But actually, the Pevensies really are like a family on
this film. They’re very close and they look out for and
are very protective of each other, and it was fantastic
that they were willing to welcome me into their group.
The film
has obviously been full of challenges for you. What’s
been most difficult, so far?
Just
doing justice to the character of Prince Caspian
is a big thing. He has this big emotional journey.
Essentially, he turns on his own family and has to rally
troops to fight against his own people, and he has to
learn to become a leader. In terms of practical things,
there was one scene, in particular, in New Zealand,
where I had to ride my horse through a river with a
fairly strong current, and that was quite a big thing to
ask someone who’d only been riding horses for three or
four weeks. So off I go on the horse and get to the
other side and think, “Yes, I’ve done it!” and Andrew
goes, “Very good, except you gritted your teeth the
whole way across the river, so let’s do it again.”
You’re
already lined up for the next Narnia film, The Voyage
of the Dawn Treader. What can you tell us about that
film?
I
haven’t had a lot of time to think about it, but I know
Michael Apted will be directing it and that it’s all set
on a ship. So there’s probably a whole new set of skills
like high diving or something I’ll have to start
learning. Who knows?
The
attention you are going to get from these films is
probably going to change your life considerably. Does
that worry or excite you?
That’s
also something I haven’t had a lot of time to think
about. I’m just sort of concentrating on telling the
story of this film right now, and the challenges
involved in that. But, you know, like most young actors,
I’ve had periods of four, five, six months at a time
when I’ve been out of work, so I think I’m just very
lucky to be working. Even all the big stars, you read
their autobiographies and there always seems to be a
point where they were penniless and starving. To be a
working actor at this point in my life is a tremendous
privilege.
***Opening across the
Philippines
on June 4, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is
distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
International through Columbia Pictures. |
