KEN STOTT (voice of Trufflehunter) is a triple-threat in the English performance world, an Olivier Award-winning veteran of the British stage, television and films.
Born in Edinburgh in 1955, Stott was educated at George Heriot's School, where his father was Dean of the English Department. He next trained at Mountview Theatre
School and began his acting career at the age of 18 at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast, Ireland.
He spent the next ten years doing repertory (in places like Belfast, Ipswich, Manchester and Plymouth) before landing his first lead role in “Through the Leaves” at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh. When the play transferred to London, the 30-year-old actor began attracting notice, and a year later was performing at the Royal National Theatre. Over the next few years, the Scot established his reputation as one of Britain's finest performers, garnering numerous nominations and awards, including an Olivier Award as Best Supporting Actor for “Broken Glass” in 1994. He earned a second nomination the “Recruiting Officer” at the National Theatre.
His early stage work includes The Royal Shakespeare Company productions of “Henry V,” “Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2” and “The Merry Wives of Windsor,” before winning larger roles in Tennessee Williams’ “The Rose Tattoo,” Moliere’s “The Misanthrope” and Arthur Miller’s “Death of A Salesman,” in which he starred as Willy Loman opposite Jude Law as his son, Happy.
But it was his part in the initial cast of the West End hit “Art” (earning his third Olivier nomination) with Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay at Wyndham's that really brought him into the limelight. With his stage career on hold while winning acclaim on British television in the late 1990s, he returned to the West End boards in 2001 in Brian Friel's “Faith Healer” at the Almeida Theatre in King's Cross. More recently, he starred opposite Richard Griffiths and John Hurt in the drama “Heroes,” returning to the Wyndham’s in London’s West End in 2006.
While working to establish his name in the repertory theatre world, Stott debuted on English TV with a role in “The Secret Army” in 1977. Although small roles ensued over the next two decades in a variety of programs like “Your Cheatin’ Heart” and Dennis Potter’s “The Singing Detective” on the BBC, he won acclaim as the alcoholic hospital deejay in the BBC black comedy miniseries “Taking Over The Asylum,” which won the BAFTA as Best Drama series.
He became a familiar face on the BBC in such series and programs as “Mug’s Game,” “Rhodes,” “Stone, Scissors, Paper,” “Messiah,” “Vicious Circle” and a mainstay on ITV in the five seasons of “The Vice,” starring as Det. Inspector Pat Chappel (BAFTA nominated for his work in 1999). That show, one of the U.K.’s most popular series, drew an estimated 10 million viewers weekly. He most recently won praise over two seasons in the title role as Scotland's favorite anti-hero cop in another ITV series, “Rebus.”
While establishing his profile on the stage and television, Stott also found his way into motion pictures, making a dramatic debut in a brief (30 second) appearance as a 16th century Spaniard in 1983’s “Being Human.” He later had supporting roles in a wide variety of films, from the Oscar-winning short film “Franz Kafka's It’s A Wonderful Life” (with Richard E. Grant) to the musical spectacle “A Beggar’s Opera.”
He won his first major film role as the alcoholic coach Ike Weir in Jim Sheridan's “The Boxer” (after co-star Daniel Day-Lewis saw his performance onstage in “Art” and suggested him for the part) and two years later starred in his first lead role opposite Billy Connolly in the dark thriller “The Debt Collector,” a part written expressly for him. He played the sadistic Chance in Jake Scott’s “Plunkett & Macleane” (alongside Liv Tyler, Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller) and also co-starred in such motion pictures as Danny Boyle’s “Shallow Grave,” Antoine Fuqua’s “King Arthur,” Lasse Halstrom’s “Casanova,” Mike Hodges’ “I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead” and Bill Forsyth’s “Being Human.”
Stott's most recent screen work includes his role as Zvi Rafiah in Mike Nicholls film, “Charlie Wilson’s War”, and he is currently starring in Yazmina Reza's new play “God of Carnage” at the Gielgud Theatre with Ralph Fiennes,Tamsin Greig and Janet McTeer.
LIAM NEESON has become one of the leading international motion picture actors
LIAM NEESON has become one of the leading international motion picture actors today. Whether it is his Academy Award® nominated role of Oskar Schindler in Steven Spielberg’s highly acclaimed “Schindler’s List” (`1993), his award-winning portrayal of legendary Irish Republican hero in “Michael Collins” (1996), or his role as controversial sex therapist Alfred Kinsey in the critically acclaimed “Kinsey” (2004), Neeson continues to display an acting range matched by few.
In 2007 Neeson completed production on Pierre Morel’s “Taken,” which is due out in the US later this year. Neeson stars as an ex-soldier trying to track down the Albanian slave masters who have kidnapped his daughter. Currently, Neeson is filming Richard Eyre’s “The Other Man” opposite Laura Linney, and he recently completed production on “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” where he reprised his role as the voice of the Lion, Aslan, in the sequel to the 2005 box office success “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
In 2006 Neeson graced the screen in the classic revenge drama “Seraphim Falls” opposite Pierce Brosnan. In 2005, he appeared in Ridley Scott’s crusades epic “Kingdom of Heaven.” He also co-starred that year in “Batman Begins,” directed by Christopher Nolan.
Neeson’s portrayal of Alfred Kinsey in Bill Condon’s “Kinsey,” co-starring Laura Linney, garnered him a Best Actor award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Prior to that, Neeson co-starred with Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, and Keira Knightly in the Working Title film “Love Actually” (2003), written and directed by Richard Curtis.
Neeson returned to Broadway in 2002, co-starring with his friend Laura Linney in Arthur Miller’s classic “The Crucible.” Mr. Neeson’s performance as John Proctor earned both he and Miss Linney a Tony® Award nomination.
In 2001, he starred opposite Harrison Ford in the true story of Russia’s nuclear submarine tragedy entitled “K-19: The Windowmaker,” and starred opposite Sandra Bullock in the black comedy “Gun Shy”
(2000).
Neeson starred in the box-office phenomenon “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” (1999) in the role of Qui-Gon Jinn, the Master Jedi Knight who bestows his Force-ful wisdom upon Obi-Wan Kenobi and the young Anakin Skywalker. In the same year, he starred opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones in Jan De Bont’s “The Haunting” (1999).
In addition, he starred in the screen adaptation of Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables” in the role of Jean Valjean, co-starring Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman and Claire Danes. Also that year, Neeson played Oscar Wilde in David Hare’s new play, “The Judas Kiss” which opened in London’s West End and subsequently on Broadway.
Neeson starred in the title role in Neil Jordan’s “Michael Collins” (1996) for which he received Best Actor honors at the Venice Film Festival, a Golden Globe® Best Actor nomination, and London’s prestigious Evening Standard Award for Best Actor. The film also received the highest honor in Venice -- The Golden Lion Award.
It was in 1993 when Neeson received worldwide attention for his starring role in the Academy Award® winning film “Schindler’s List.” In addition to winning an Academy Award® nomination for Best Actor, he was nominated for a Golden Globe® and BAFTA Award.
The Irish-born actor had originally sought a career as a teacher after attending Queens University, Belfast and majoring in physics, computer science and math . Neeson set teaching aside and in 1976 joined the prestigious Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast (“The best training any actor could have.”), making his professional acting debut in Joseph Plunkett’s “The Risen People.” After two years with the Lyric Players, he joined the famed National Theatre of Ireland, the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Neeson appeared in the Abbey Theatre Festival’s production of Brian Friel’s “Translations,” and a production of Sean O’Casey’s “The Plough and the Stars” for the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, England where he received a Best Actor Award.
In 2007 Neeson completed production on Pierre Morel’s “Taken,” which is due out in the US later this year. Neeson stars as an ex-soldier trying to track down the Albanian slave masters who have kidnapped his daughter. Currently, Neeson is filming Richard Eyre’s “The Other Man” opposite Laura Linney, and he recently completed production on “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” where he reprised his role as the voice of the Lion, Aslan, in the sequel to the 2005 box office success “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
In 2006 Neeson graced the screen in the classic revenge drama “Seraphim Falls” opposite Pierce Brosnan. In 2005, he appeared in Ridley Scott’s crusades epic “Kingdom of Heaven.” He also co-starred that year in “Batman Begins,” directed by Christopher Nolan.
Neeson’s portrayal of Alfred Kinsey in Bill Condon’s “Kinsey,” co-starring Laura Linney, garnered him a Best Actor award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Prior to that, Neeson co-starred with Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, and Keira Knightly in the Working Title film “Love Actually” (2003), written and directed by Richard Curtis.
Neeson returned to Broadway in 2002, co-starring with his friend Laura Linney in Arthur Miller’s classic “The Crucible.” Mr. Neeson’s performance as John Proctor earned both he and Miss Linney a Tony® Award nomination.
In 2001, he starred opposite Harrison Ford in the true story of Russia’s nuclear submarine tragedy entitled “K-19: The Windowmaker,” and starred opposite Sandra Bullock in the black comedy “Gun Shy”
(2000).
Neeson starred in the box-office phenomenon “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” (1999) in the role of Qui-Gon Jinn, the Master Jedi Knight who bestows his Force-ful wisdom upon Obi-Wan Kenobi and the young Anakin Skywalker. In the same year, he starred opposite Catherine Zeta-Jones in Jan De Bont’s “The Haunting” (1999).
In addition, he starred in the screen adaptation of Victor Hugo’s “Les Miserables” in the role of Jean Valjean, co-starring Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman and Claire Danes. Also that year, Neeson played Oscar Wilde in David Hare’s new play, “The Judas Kiss” which opened in London’s West End and subsequently on Broadway.
Neeson starred in the title role in Neil Jordan’s “Michael Collins” (1996) for which he received Best Actor honors at the Venice Film Festival, a Golden Globe® Best Actor nomination, and London’s prestigious Evening Standard Award for Best Actor. The film also received the highest honor in Venice -- The Golden Lion Award.
It was in 1993 when Neeson received worldwide attention for his starring role in the Academy Award® winning film “Schindler’s List.” In addition to winning an Academy Award® nomination for Best Actor, he was nominated for a Golden Globe® and BAFTA Award.
The Irish-born actor had originally sought a career as a teacher after attending Queens University, Belfast and majoring in physics, computer science and math . Neeson set teaching aside and in 1976 joined the prestigious Lyric Players Theatre in Belfast (“The best training any actor could have.”), making his professional acting debut in Joseph Plunkett’s “The Risen People.” After two years with the Lyric Players, he joined the famed National Theatre of Ireland, the Abbey Theatre in Dublin. Neeson appeared in the Abbey Theatre Festival’s production of Brian Friel’s “Translations,” and a production of Sean O’Casey’s “The Plough and the Stars” for the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, England where he received a Best Actor Award.
CORNELL S. JOHN Television credits include the popular BBC series EastEnders, Holby City, Doctors
CORNELL S. JOHN (Glenstorm the Centaur) was born in Birmingham, England. He maintains a very high profile on the British stage, where he has triumphed in such musical productions as “The Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess” (directed by Sir Trevor Nunn), “Les Misérables,” “The Full Monty,” and Disney’s “The Lion King,” in which he originated the West End role of King Musafa (the character vocalized in the 1994 animated classic by James Earl Jones) for director Julie Taymor.
His lengthy list of theatre credits also includes Sondheim’s “Pacific Overtures,” ”You Don't Kiss,” Satan in the European tour of Steven Berkoff's “Messiah,” Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific,” “Brother to Brother,” “Rum Shop Opera,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Heavenly Bodies,” Medgar Evers in “JFK,” the Japan/UK tour of “Carmen Jones” (directed by Simon Callow), “Dutchman,” “Buddy,” “Kiss Me, Kate,” Leonard Bernstein's “Trouble in Tahiti,” Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” “Bad Boy Johnny,” “Scratches,” “Damn Yankees,” and Kander and Ebb’s “Chicago.” He credits his role as Oscar Lindquist, the shy tax accountant in the West End production of “Sweet Charity,” directed by Carole Metcalf, as the turning point in his career.
Television credits include the popular BBC series “EastEnders,” “Holby City,” “Doctors,” “The Block,” “‘Orrible, Maise Raine” and “3 Minute Heroes,” as well as “Revolver,” “Final Passage,” “The Farm” on C4, “Lenny Henry in Pieces,” “The Knock,” “Thief Takers,” “The Milkman,” and ITV’s “The Upper Hand.” His roles on the big screen include “Kidulthood” and the upcoming sequel, “Adulthood,” “Rottweiler,” “Red Mercury,” “Hush Your Mouth,” “Rage.”
John has enjoyed recent success making his directorial debut with the plays “Dutchman” and “Birth of a Blues” for Bush Boy Productions in London and is blessed with the continued love and support of Jane Elizabeth and his daughter Kaiya.
His lengthy list of theatre credits also includes Sondheim’s “Pacific Overtures,” ”You Don't Kiss,” Satan in the European tour of Steven Berkoff's “Messiah,” Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s “South Pacific,” “Brother to Brother,” “Rum Shop Opera,” “Romeo and Juliet,” “Heavenly Bodies,” Medgar Evers in “JFK,” the Japan/UK tour of “Carmen Jones” (directed by Simon Callow), “Dutchman,” “Buddy,” “Kiss Me, Kate,” Leonard Bernstein's “Trouble in Tahiti,” Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men,” “Bad Boy Johnny,” “Scratches,” “Damn Yankees,” and Kander and Ebb’s “Chicago.” He credits his role as Oscar Lindquist, the shy tax accountant in the West End production of “Sweet Charity,” directed by Carole Metcalf, as the turning point in his career.
Television credits include the popular BBC series “EastEnders,” “Holby City,” “Doctors,” “The Block,” “‘Orrible, Maise Raine” and “3 Minute Heroes,” as well as “Revolver,” “Final Passage,” “The Farm” on C4, “Lenny Henry in Pieces,” “The Knock,” “Thief Takers,” “The Milkman,” and ITV’s “The Upper Hand.” His roles on the big screen include “Kidulthood” and the upcoming sequel, “Adulthood,” “Rottweiler,” “Red Mercury,” “Hush Your Mouth,” “Rage.”
John has enjoyed recent success making his directorial debut with the plays “Dutchman” and “Birth of a Blues” for Bush Boy Productions in London and is blessed with the continued love and support of Jane Elizabeth and his daughter Kaiya.
SHANE RANGI (Asterius the Minotaur) returns to the world of Narnia
SHANE RANGI (Asterius the Minotaur) returns to the world of Narnia after portraying Gen. Otmin, the fierce Minotaur and leader of the White Witch’s army, in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
Rangi is well-known among fantasy film enthusiasts for his role of the Witch King of Angmar in Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” He returned in the series second chapter, “The Two Towers,” as the Easterling NCO, and portrayed a Harad Leader in “Return of the King.” In addition to his character roles, Rangi also Doubled Lawerence Makaore as Gothmog and the Black Witch King, and Paul Norell as the King of the Dead not to mention was also a utility stunt performer in all three titles of Jackson’s landmark movie trilogy.
When not portraying specific characters before the cameras, the New Zealander keeps busy as a stuntman based out of Wellington. His stunt credits include Jackson’s “King Kong,” X-Men: The Last Stand,” Vincent Ward’s “River Queen,” Jay Russell’s family film, “The Water Horse,” and Patrick Tatopoulos’s up and coming fantasy film Underworld 3 “The Rise of the Lycans.”
Between film assignments, Rangi can be found at Weta Digital, Peter Jackson, Jamie Selkirk and Richard Taylor’s award-winning VFX house in New Zealand that creates a wide variety of computer graphic images for film, television and game projects.
Rangi was raised in New Zealand’s north island but hails from the east coast village of Tiki Tiki, near Gisborne. The imposing, 6’4” Maori began his performing career during his secondary school years, first with a local operatic company before winning entry into the New Zealand Drama School, one of only twelve applicants awarded a position out of 600 potential candidates. He began his professional career doing local theatre before breaking into the feature film arena.
Rangi is well-known among fantasy film enthusiasts for his role of the Witch King of Angmar in Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.” He returned in the series second chapter, “The Two Towers,” as the Easterling NCO, and portrayed a Harad Leader in “Return of the King.” In addition to his character roles, Rangi also Doubled Lawerence Makaore as Gothmog and the Black Witch King, and Paul Norell as the King of the Dead not to mention was also a utility stunt performer in all three titles of Jackson’s landmark movie trilogy.
When not portraying specific characters before the cameras, the New Zealander keeps busy as a stuntman based out of Wellington. His stunt credits include Jackson’s “King Kong,” X-Men: The Last Stand,” Vincent Ward’s “River Queen,” Jay Russell’s family film, “The Water Horse,” and Patrick Tatopoulos’s up and coming fantasy film Underworld 3 “The Rise of the Lycans.”
Between film assignments, Rangi can be found at Weta Digital, Peter Jackson, Jamie Selkirk and Richard Taylor’s award-winning VFX house in New Zealand that creates a wide variety of computer graphic images for film, television and game projects.
Rangi was raised in New Zealand’s north island but hails from the east coast village of Tiki Tiki, near Gisborne. The imposing, 6’4” Maori began his performing career during his secondary school years, first with a local operatic company before winning entry into the New Zealand Drama School, one of only twelve applicants awarded a position out of 600 potential candidates. He began his professional career doing local theatre before breaking into the feature film arena.
ALICIA BORRACHERO (Queen Prunaprismia) starred in two of Spain’s most popular television series
ALICIA BORRACHERO (Queen Prunaprismia) the Madrid native, earned her B.A. in Drama from Nazareth University in Rochester, New York. She returned to her homeland to pursue her career, which encompasses work in films, television and the theatre.
On the big screen, she most recently completed a co-starring role in Mike Newell’s “Love in the Time of Cholera,” based on the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. She appeared in Peter Yates’ Hallmark Entertainment adventure “Don Quixote” and was named Best Actress at the Benaldamena Film Festival for Fidel Cordero’s drama “The Fabulous Story of Diego Marin” (“La Fabulosa historia de Diego Marin”).
Other motion picture credits include the starring role in “Vidas pequeñas,” “Things I Forgot to Remember” (“Cosas que olvidé recordar”), “Death in Granada” (“Muerte en Granada”), “Blind Blood,” “The Killer Tongue” (“La lenga asesina”), “Three Words” (“Tres Palabras”) and “Shooting Elizabeth.”
Her television work includes such programs and specials as “Tres Años en el Paraiso,” “Las Hijas de Mohamed,” “Un Lugar en el Mundo,” “Comedian’s Club” (for Canal Plus+), “7 Vidas,” “Medico de Familia,” “El Rinoceronte,” “Hermanos de Leche,” “Farmacia de Guardia,” the miniseries “Delantero,” “Kinsey II” (for BBC Television) and “Oxigeno.”
On the Spanish stage, her credits include Strindberg’s "Miss Julie" (Cope Best Actress Award), Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Cambio de Marea,” Beth Henley’s “Crimes of the Heart,” “Untimely Death,” “Pack of Lies,” “The Lover,” the musical “The Robber Bridegroom” and Wilder’s “Our Town.”
Borrachero starred in two of Spain’s most popular television series -- “Periodistas,” the long-running drama set inside the newsroom of a major metropolitan newspaper, and “Hospital Central,” the current weekly serial (equates to a Spanish-language version of “ER”) in which she plays Dr. Cruz Gándara.
For her work on both series, Borachero won the Spanish Actors Guild prize for Lead Performance in “Periodistas,” and was nominated in the same category for “Hospital Central.” She also collected an Atv Award and TP de Oro nomination for her work on “Periodistas.”
On the big screen, she most recently completed a co-starring role in Mike Newell’s “Love in the Time of Cholera,” based on the novel by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. She appeared in Peter Yates’ Hallmark Entertainment adventure “Don Quixote” and was named Best Actress at the Benaldamena Film Festival for Fidel Cordero’s drama “The Fabulous Story of Diego Marin” (“La Fabulosa historia de Diego Marin”).
Other motion picture credits include the starring role in “Vidas pequeñas,” “Things I Forgot to Remember” (“Cosas que olvidé recordar”), “Death in Granada” (“Muerte en Granada”), “Blind Blood,” “The Killer Tongue” (“La lenga asesina”), “Three Words” (“Tres Palabras”) and “Shooting Elizabeth.”
Her television work includes such programs and specials as “Tres Años en el Paraiso,” “Las Hijas de Mohamed,” “Un Lugar en el Mundo,” “Comedian’s Club” (for Canal Plus+), “7 Vidas,” “Medico de Familia,” “El Rinoceronte,” “Hermanos de Leche,” “Farmacia de Guardia,” the miniseries “Delantero,” “Kinsey II” (for BBC Television) and “Oxigeno.”
On the Spanish stage, her credits include Strindberg’s "Miss Julie" (Cope Best Actress Award), Shakespeare’s “Much Ado About Nothing,” “Cambio de Marea,” Beth Henley’s “Crimes of the Heart,” “Untimely Death,” “Pack of Lies,” “The Lover,” the musical “The Robber Bridegroom” and Wilder’s “Our Town.”
Borrachero starred in two of Spain’s most popular television series -- “Periodistas,” the long-running drama set inside the newsroom of a major metropolitan newspaper, and “Hospital Central,” the current weekly serial (equates to a Spanish-language version of “ER”) in which she plays Dr. Cruz Gándara.
For her work on both series, Borachero won the Spanish Actors Guild prize for Lead Performance in “Periodistas,” and was nominated in the same category for “Hospital Central.” She also collected an Atv Award and TP de Oro nomination for her work on “Periodistas.”
VINCENT GRASS (Doctor Cornelius) is a native of Belgium
VINCENT GRASS (Doctor Cornelius) is a native of Belgium who began his acting studies as a boy growing up in Brussels. Born into a classically-trained musical family (his father was a conductor, his mother a classical singer), Grass opted to pursue his love of acting, attending the Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles, where he made his stage debut in a dozen or so plays. Because of his musical heritage, he also fronted a local cover band called Crash, where he learned to speak English by memorizing the lyrics to some of the most popular rock songs of the 1960s.
After completing his studies in Brussels, he headed to England, where he honed his craft at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), starring in several LAMDA Theatre Club productions including “The Plain Dealer,” directed by Norman Ayrton.
Grass maintains a very busy career (in both English and French) on the stage, on television and in motion pictures from his home base in Paris, where he has been living for thirty years. He has worked for such directors as Roland Joffe (“Vatel”), Mike Binder (“Four Play”), Agneska Holland (“To Kill A Priest,” the French telefilm “Largo Desolato”), Jacques Demy (“Lady Oscar”) and Peter Greenaway (“The Tulse Luper Suitcases II”).
His list of French movie credits includes Valerie Lemercier’s “Palais Royal,” Chris Nahon’s “Empire of the Wolves” (“L’Empire des loups”), Gerard Corbiau’s “The King Is Dancing” (“Le Roi danse”), Claude Berri’s “Uranus,” Michel Blanc’s “Dead Tired” (“Grosse fatigue”), Catherine Corsini’s “Les Amoureux,” the Dardenne’s “Je Pense a vous,” Bertrand Blier’s “Thank You Life (“Merci la vie”) and Alain Berliner’s “My Life in Pink” (“Ma Vie en rose,” a film festival favorite in 1997 and winner of the Golden Globe as Best Foreign Film). He has also appeared in several short films, most notably “La Carte postale,” directed by Vivian Goffette, which earned an Oscar nomination in 1999 as Best Live Action Short. Following his role in Narnia, he joined actress Isabelle Huppert in Rithy Panh’s film "Un barrage contre le Pacifique" on location in Cambodia.
For French television, Grass has appeared in dozens of series and telefilms, including “David Nolande,” “Louis La Brocante,” “Police District,” “Le Frère Irlandais,” “Julie Lescaut,” “Theo et Marie,” “L’Enfant de L’Absente,” “Jeunesse sans Dieu,” “Les Vacances de Maigret” and “Maigret ches les Flamands,” “Les Colonnes du ciel” and “Saint-Germain ou La négociation.” His English-language TV projects encompass Yves Simoneau’s “Napoleon,” the Emmy Award-winning “Horatio Hornblower,” “Sharpe’s Enemy,” “Memories of Midnight,” “Murder, Inc.” and “Night of the Fox.”
On the Paris stage, Grass has starred in three plays mounted at the Theatre Silvia Montfort -- “Masterclass” (“Staline Melodie”), “La Question D’Argent” and Miller’s “Death of A Salesman.” He appeared in Genet’s “High Surveillance” at the Theatre Le Lucernaire, and has appeared in many productions staged throughout Belgium, including “Mistero Buffo” at the Brussels National Opera, Kafka’s “The Castle” on a national tour, “Murder in the Cathedral” at the Flobecq Festival, Moliere’s “The Bourgeois Gentilhomme” at the National Theatre, Ionesco’s “The Killer” (“Tueur sans gages”) at Compagnie de Bruxelles, Hampton’s “Total Eclipse” (“Les Fils du Soleil”) at the Rideau de Bruxelles, Chekov’s “The Seagull” at the Theatre Royal de Namur and “The Knack, Or How to Get It” at the Waltra Theatre in Brussels.
He also enjoys a lucrative voice-over career in which he has dubbed the French dialogue for such projects as “The Matrix” (Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith), “Lord of the Rings” trilogy (John Rhys-Davies’ Gimli and Treebeard), Peter Firth (the British TV series “Spooks”) and George Miller’s recent Oscar-winning animated feature, “Happy Feet” (again, Hugo Weaving’s Noah the Elder), among many others.
After completing his studies in Brussels, he headed to England, where he honed his craft at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), starring in several LAMDA Theatre Club productions including “The Plain Dealer,” directed by Norman Ayrton.
Grass maintains a very busy career (in both English and French) on the stage, on television and in motion pictures from his home base in Paris, where he has been living for thirty years. He has worked for such directors as Roland Joffe (“Vatel”), Mike Binder (“Four Play”), Agneska Holland (“To Kill A Priest,” the French telefilm “Largo Desolato”), Jacques Demy (“Lady Oscar”) and Peter Greenaway (“The Tulse Luper Suitcases II”).
His list of French movie credits includes Valerie Lemercier’s “Palais Royal,” Chris Nahon’s “Empire of the Wolves” (“L’Empire des loups”), Gerard Corbiau’s “The King Is Dancing” (“Le Roi danse”), Claude Berri’s “Uranus,” Michel Blanc’s “Dead Tired” (“Grosse fatigue”), Catherine Corsini’s “Les Amoureux,” the Dardenne’s “Je Pense a vous,” Bertrand Blier’s “Thank You Life (“Merci la vie”) and Alain Berliner’s “My Life in Pink” (“Ma Vie en rose,” a film festival favorite in 1997 and winner of the Golden Globe as Best Foreign Film). He has also appeared in several short films, most notably “La Carte postale,” directed by Vivian Goffette, which earned an Oscar nomination in 1999 as Best Live Action Short. Following his role in Narnia, he joined actress Isabelle Huppert in Rithy Panh’s film "Un barrage contre le Pacifique" on location in Cambodia.
For French television, Grass has appeared in dozens of series and telefilms, including “David Nolande,” “Louis La Brocante,” “Police District,” “Le Frère Irlandais,” “Julie Lescaut,” “Theo et Marie,” “L’Enfant de L’Absente,” “Jeunesse sans Dieu,” “Les Vacances de Maigret” and “Maigret ches les Flamands,” “Les Colonnes du ciel” and “Saint-Germain ou La négociation.” His English-language TV projects encompass Yves Simoneau’s “Napoleon,” the Emmy Award-winning “Horatio Hornblower,” “Sharpe’s Enemy,” “Memories of Midnight,” “Murder, Inc.” and “Night of the Fox.”
On the Paris stage, Grass has starred in three plays mounted at the Theatre Silvia Montfort -- “Masterclass” (“Staline Melodie”), “La Question D’Argent” and Miller’s “Death of A Salesman.” He appeared in Genet’s “High Surveillance” at the Theatre Le Lucernaire, and has appeared in many productions staged throughout Belgium, including “Mistero Buffo” at the Brussels National Opera, Kafka’s “The Castle” on a national tour, “Murder in the Cathedral” at the Flobecq Festival, Moliere’s “The Bourgeois Gentilhomme” at the National Theatre, Ionesco’s “The Killer” (“Tueur sans gages”) at Compagnie de Bruxelles, Hampton’s “Total Eclipse” (“Les Fils du Soleil”) at the Rideau de Bruxelles, Chekov’s “The Seagull” at the Theatre Royal de Namur and “The Knack, Or How to Get It” at the Waltra Theatre in Brussels.
He also enjoys a lucrative voice-over career in which he has dubbed the French dialogue for such projects as “The Matrix” (Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith), “Lord of the Rings” trilogy (John Rhys-Davies’ Gimli and Treebeard), Peter Firth (the British TV series “Spooks”) and George Miller’s recent Oscar-winning animated feature, “Happy Feet” (again, Hugo Weaving’s Noah the Elder), among many others.
DAMIáN ALCáZAR (Lord Sopespian) is one of Mexico’s most prominent acting talents
DAMIáN ALCáZAR (Lord Sopespian) is one of Mexico’s most prominent acting talents. In addition to his award-winning career in film and television, Alcázar is also a dedicated acting teacher and founding member of the Veracruzano Theatre Forum at Veracruzana University (where he served on the faculty) and the Center for Experimental Theatre.
A native of Jiquilpan, Michoacán on Miexico’s west coast, Alcázar has starred in numerous Mexican films, including "B.C., El Limite del Tiempo," "El Anzuelo," "Katuwira," "Tres Minutos en la Oscuridad," "Dos crímenes" (Best Actor, Cartagena Film Festival), "No Juegues con el Amor," Arturo Ripstein's "La Mujer del Puerto," "Abuelito de Batman," "La Leyenda de una Mascara," “Un Mundo Maravilloso” (Best Actor, Los Angeles Latino Film Festival), "La Ciudad al Desnudo,” John Sayles’ Spanish-language drama, “Men with Guns” and Sebastian Cordero’s “Crónicas,” for which he won his seventh Ariel Award (Mexico’s equivalent of the Oscar) and Best Actor honors at the Cartegna and San Sebastian International Film Festivals.
He was also awarded Ariel prizes for “Las Vueltas del citrillo” (Best Actor, 2006; also Best Actor, La Havanna, Cuba), “El crimen del padre Amaro” (Best Supporting Actor, 2002; also Best Actor, Muestra Internacional de Cine de Guadalajara), “La Ley de Herodes” (Best Actor, 1999; also Best Actor, Valladolid, Spain), “Baja, California: El limite del tiempo” (Best Actor, 1998), “El Anzuelo” (Best Supporting Actor, 1996) and “Lolo” (Best Supporting Actor, 1994). He collected three additional nominations for Mexico’s prestigious acting honor, including “Dos crimines” (1995), “Pachito Rex: Me voy pero no del todo” (2001) and “La Habitacion azul” (2002). He also won the Best Actor honor at the Miami International Film Festival for “Crónicas.”
He has also co-starred in such English-language films as John Duigan’s "Romero," Alex Cox's "Highway Patrolman," Bruce Bereford’s HBO feature “And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself,” Cruz Angeles’ upcoming “Don’t Let Me Drown” and the TV movie "Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7."
Upcoming projects include “El Camino del diablo,” El Viaje de Teo,” “Mordidas,” “Satanás” and “El Soldado Perez.”
A native of Jiquilpan, Michoacán on Miexico’s west coast, Alcázar has starred in numerous Mexican films, including "B.C., El Limite del Tiempo," "El Anzuelo," "Katuwira," "Tres Minutos en la Oscuridad," "Dos crímenes" (Best Actor, Cartagena Film Festival), "No Juegues con el Amor," Arturo Ripstein's "La Mujer del Puerto," "Abuelito de Batman," "La Leyenda de una Mascara," “Un Mundo Maravilloso” (Best Actor, Los Angeles Latino Film Festival), "La Ciudad al Desnudo,” John Sayles’ Spanish-language drama, “Men with Guns” and Sebastian Cordero’s “Crónicas,” for which he won his seventh Ariel Award (Mexico’s equivalent of the Oscar) and Best Actor honors at the Cartegna and San Sebastian International Film Festivals.
He was also awarded Ariel prizes for “Las Vueltas del citrillo” (Best Actor, 2006; also Best Actor, La Havanna, Cuba), “El crimen del padre Amaro” (Best Supporting Actor, 2002; also Best Actor, Muestra Internacional de Cine de Guadalajara), “La Ley de Herodes” (Best Actor, 1999; also Best Actor, Valladolid, Spain), “Baja, California: El limite del tiempo” (Best Actor, 1998), “El Anzuelo” (Best Supporting Actor, 1996) and “Lolo” (Best Supporting Actor, 1994). He collected three additional nominations for Mexico’s prestigious acting honor, including “Dos crimines” (1995), “Pachito Rex: Me voy pero no del todo” (2001) and “La Habitacion azul” (2002). He also won the Best Actor honor at the Miami International Film Festival for “Crónicas.”
He has also co-starred in such English-language films as John Duigan’s "Romero," Alex Cox's "Highway Patrolman," Bruce Bereford’s HBO feature “And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself,” Cruz Angeles’ upcoming “Don’t Let Me Drown” and the TV movie "Nurses on the Line: The Crash of Flight 7."
Upcoming projects include “El Camino del diablo,” El Viaje de Teo,” “Mordidas,” “Satanás” and “El Soldado Perez.”
SERGIO CASTELLITTO (King Miraz) has been called one of the most popular Italian actors
SERGIO CASTELLITTO (King Miraz) has been called “one of the most popular Italian actors for international audiences since the heady days of Mastroianni and Gassman.” In addition to his lengthy acting career encompassing work in films, television and on the Italian stage, Castellitto is also a noted writer-director, with his most recent directorial achievement, “Donit Moveî” (“Don’t Move,” in which he starred opposite Penelope Cruz), triumphing as one of Italy’s biggest critical and commercial successes of 2004.
Castellitto and Cruz won Italy’s David di Donatello honors for their respective leading performances, with the film (based on the Strega winning and bestselling novel by his wife, the acclaimed italian writer Margaret Mazzantini) earning nine other nominations, including Best Film and writing and director nods for Castellitto. The film was also showcased in 2004 as part of a retrospective of the actor-director’s work by the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
Born in Rome, Castellitto graduated from the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Art in 1978. He began his theatrical career in Italian public theater with Shakespeare's “Measure for Measureî” at the Teatro di Roma and with roles in other plays such as "La Madre” by Brecht, “Merchant of Venice” and “Candelaio” by Giordano Bruno. He next starred at the Teatro di Genova in the roles of Tuzenbach in Chekhov's “Three Sisters” and Jean in Strindberg's “Miss Julie,” both under the direction of Otomar Krejka. Over the ensuing years, he also starred in such theatrical productions as "L'Infelicita Senza Desideri" and “Piccoli Equivoci” at the Festival Dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, as well as "Barefoot in the Park" by Neil Simon and “Zorro", a monologue written for him by his wife, Margaret Mazzantini. He also directed her in her own original comedy, "Manola.”
While contnuing a successful career on the stage, the actor made his film debut in 1982 alongside Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli and Anouk Aimée in “L’Armata ritorna” (“The General of the Dead Army”), directed by Luciano Tovoli, then followed the next year with Stefania Sandrelli in the feature “Il Momento magico” (“Magic Moments”).
He continued working in the Italian cinema with some of the industry’s finest young auteur directors such as Marco Colli (“Giovanni Senzapensieri”) and Felice Farina (“Sembra Morto Ma E’ Solo Svenutoi”), for which Castellitto also served as the subject and screenwriter. In 1986, he co-starred with Vittorio Gassman and Fanny Ardant in Ettore Scola’s epic saga, “La Famiglia” (“The Family”), which earned an Oscar nomination as Best Foreign Film and won five David di Donatello awards, including Best Film.
He next reunited with actress Fanny Ardant in Margarethe von Trotta’s “Paura e amore” (“Love and Fear”), then co-starred alongside Jean Reno and Rosanna Arquette in Luc Besson’s acclaimed drama “Le Grand Bleu”(“The Big Blue”), which earned a Cesar nomination as Best Film. He won his very first David di Donatello prize (as Best Supporting Actor) for his role alongside Gian Maria Volonte in “Tre colonne in cronaca.”
As a new decade approached, Castellitto graduated to leading roles in the film adaptation of Claudio Bigagli’s play “Piccoli Equivoci” (reprising his stage role of Paolo), “La Carne” (“The Flesh”), Mario Monicelli’s “Rossini! Rossini!,” Giuseppe Tornatore’s “L’Uomo delle stelle” (“The Star Maker,” a Best Foreign Film Oscar nominee in 1996, for which he won the Nastro d'Argento Critics Award) and Francesca Archibugi’s “Il Grande Cocomero” (“The Great Pumpkin”), winning his second David di Donatello award and first as Best Actor. As the 1990s grew to a close, the actor turned his talents to directing his first feature, “Libero Burro,” also co-writing the screenplay with his wife, Margaret Mazzantini, his co-star in the film. The production earned Best Film honors from the Los Angeles Italian Film Awards.
In addition to his busy career in Italy, Castellitto spent much time in Paris, where his popularity soared in such films as "Alberto Express" and "Ne Quittez Pas" by Arthur Joffe, Laetitia Masson’s "A'Vendre" and "Le Cri De La Soie" by Yvon Marciano.
In 2001, he reteamed with director Ettore Scola in his acclaimed drama, “Concorrenza sleale” (“Unfair Competition”), then gained international acclaim as Ugo, the artistic director of an Italian theatre troupe visiting Paris, in Jacques Rivette's “Va savoir.” He next starred as the temporamental chef in the acclaimed international comedy “Bella Martha” (“Mostly Martha,” Best Actor -- European Film Award), then triumphed again in the bittersweet Italian comedy “Caterina va in città” (“Caterina in the Big City, winning his second Nastro d'Argento Critics Award). He earned another Donatello nomination (his third) for Marco Bellocchio’s award-winning drama “L’Ora di religione” (“My Mother’s Smile”). He most recently reunited with Bellocchio in “Il registra dei matrimoni” (“The Wedding Director”), and also starred in the Italian drama “La Stella che non c'E” (“The Missing Star”), directed by Gianni Amelio, and provided one of the voices for the French version of “Arthur and the Invisibles.” He is the only italian actor to star in the French homage to Paris, "Paris Je T'Aime,” in an episode directed by Isabel Coixet.
His television work includes the miniseries "Cinema" with Alain Delon, the great Italian biopics "Don Milani-Il Priore di Barbiana", "il Grande Fausto" (the life of Fausto Coppi), "Padre Pio" and "Enzo Ferrari" (the latter two directed by Carlo Carlei), "Victoire ou la vie des femmes" directed by Nadine Trintignant, and two projects he also co-wrote -- “Il Commissario Maigret : L'ombra cinese” and “Il commissario Maigret: La trappola di Maigret,” both starring Margherita Buy. His most recent TV project was "O'Professore," written by Stefano Rulli and Sandro Petraglia, director Maurizio Zaccaro.
In addition to co-writing a new film with wife Margaret Mazzantini (which he will also direct), Castellitto will also return to the theatre to direct John Patrick Shanley’s award-winning play "Doubt.”
Castellitto and Cruz won Italy’s David di Donatello honors for their respective leading performances, with the film (based on the Strega winning and bestselling novel by his wife, the acclaimed italian writer Margaret Mazzantini) earning nine other nominations, including Best Film and writing and director nods for Castellitto. The film was also showcased in 2004 as part of a retrospective of the actor-director’s work by the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
Born in Rome, Castellitto graduated from the Silvio D'Amico National Academy of Dramatic Art in 1978. He began his theatrical career in Italian public theater with Shakespeare's “Measure for Measureî” at the Teatro di Roma and with roles in other plays such as "La Madre” by Brecht, “Merchant of Venice” and “Candelaio” by Giordano Bruno. He next starred at the Teatro di Genova in the roles of Tuzenbach in Chekhov's “Three Sisters” and Jean in Strindberg's “Miss Julie,” both under the direction of Otomar Krejka. Over the ensuing years, he also starred in such theatrical productions as "L'Infelicita Senza Desideri" and “Piccoli Equivoci” at the Festival Dei Due Mondi in Spoleto, as well as "Barefoot in the Park" by Neil Simon and “Zorro", a monologue written for him by his wife, Margaret Mazzantini. He also directed her in her own original comedy, "Manola.”
While contnuing a successful career on the stage, the actor made his film debut in 1982 alongside Marcello Mastroianni, Michel Piccoli and Anouk Aimée in “L’Armata ritorna” (“The General of the Dead Army”), directed by Luciano Tovoli, then followed the next year with Stefania Sandrelli in the feature “Il Momento magico” (“Magic Moments”).
He continued working in the Italian cinema with some of the industry’s finest young auteur directors such as Marco Colli (“Giovanni Senzapensieri”) and Felice Farina (“Sembra Morto Ma E’ Solo Svenutoi”), for which Castellitto also served as the subject and screenwriter. In 1986, he co-starred with Vittorio Gassman and Fanny Ardant in Ettore Scola’s epic saga, “La Famiglia” (“The Family”), which earned an Oscar nomination as Best Foreign Film and won five David di Donatello awards, including Best Film.
He next reunited with actress Fanny Ardant in Margarethe von Trotta’s “Paura e amore” (“Love and Fear”), then co-starred alongside Jean Reno and Rosanna Arquette in Luc Besson’s acclaimed drama “Le Grand Bleu”(“The Big Blue”), which earned a Cesar nomination as Best Film. He won his very first David di Donatello prize (as Best Supporting Actor) for his role alongside Gian Maria Volonte in “Tre colonne in cronaca.”
As a new decade approached, Castellitto graduated to leading roles in the film adaptation of Claudio Bigagli’s play “Piccoli Equivoci” (reprising his stage role of Paolo), “La Carne” (“The Flesh”), Mario Monicelli’s “Rossini! Rossini!,” Giuseppe Tornatore’s “L’Uomo delle stelle” (“The Star Maker,” a Best Foreign Film Oscar nominee in 1996, for which he won the Nastro d'Argento Critics Award) and Francesca Archibugi’s “Il Grande Cocomero” (“The Great Pumpkin”), winning his second David di Donatello award and first as Best Actor. As the 1990s grew to a close, the actor turned his talents to directing his first feature, “Libero Burro,” also co-writing the screenplay with his wife, Margaret Mazzantini, his co-star in the film. The production earned Best Film honors from the Los Angeles Italian Film Awards.
In addition to his busy career in Italy, Castellitto spent much time in Paris, where his popularity soared in such films as "Alberto Express" and "Ne Quittez Pas" by Arthur Joffe, Laetitia Masson’s "A'Vendre" and "Le Cri De La Soie" by Yvon Marciano.
In 2001, he reteamed with director Ettore Scola in his acclaimed drama, “Concorrenza sleale” (“Unfair Competition”), then gained international acclaim as Ugo, the artistic director of an Italian theatre troupe visiting Paris, in Jacques Rivette's “Va savoir.” He next starred as the temporamental chef in the acclaimed international comedy “Bella Martha” (“Mostly Martha,” Best Actor -- European Film Award), then triumphed again in the bittersweet Italian comedy “Caterina va in città” (“Caterina in the Big City, winning his second Nastro d'Argento Critics Award). He earned another Donatello nomination (his third) for Marco Bellocchio’s award-winning drama “L’Ora di religione” (“My Mother’s Smile”). He most recently reunited with Bellocchio in “Il registra dei matrimoni” (“The Wedding Director”), and also starred in the Italian drama “La Stella che non c'E” (“The Missing Star”), directed by Gianni Amelio, and provided one of the voices for the French version of “Arthur and the Invisibles.” He is the only italian actor to star in the French homage to Paris, "Paris Je T'Aime,” in an episode directed by Isabel Coixet.
His television work includes the miniseries "Cinema" with Alain Delon, the great Italian biopics "Don Milani-Il Priore di Barbiana", "il Grande Fausto" (the life of Fausto Coppi), "Padre Pio" and "Enzo Ferrari" (the latter two directed by Carlo Carlei), "Victoire ou la vie des femmes" directed by Nadine Trintignant, and two projects he also co-wrote -- “Il Commissario Maigret : L'ombra cinese” and “Il commissario Maigret: La trappola di Maigret,” both starring Margherita Buy. His most recent TV project was "O'Professore," written by Stefano Rulli and Sandro Petraglia, director Maurizio Zaccaro.
In addition to co-writing a new film with wife Margaret Mazzantini (which he will also direct), Castellitto will also return to the theatre to direct John Patrick Shanley’s award-winning play "Doubt.”
WARWICK DAVIS’ (Nikabrik, the Black Dwarf) roles have taken the veteran actor
WARWICK DAVIS’ (Nikabrik, the Black Dwarf) roles have taken the veteran actor from his roots in Surrey, England, to galaxies far, far away, to the magical world of J.K. Rowling’s Hogwarts, and to C.S. Lewis’ fantastical land of Narnia in a career spanning over two decades.
Warwick began his career purely by chance as a boy in 1981. His grandmother heard a radio announcement calling for people under four feet tall to appear in the new “Star Wars” film, “Return of the Jedi.” Originally cast as a background player, Warwick’s gestures were so characteristic of George Lucas’s vision of an Ewok that he was recast as Wicket, who became one of the film’s lead creature characters. After the huge success of the third “Star Wars” epic, Lucas made two Ewok movies for ABC television, “The Ewok Adventure” and “Ewoks: Battle for Endor,” with Warwick reprising his role as Wicket in both projects.
Two years later, the 3’ 6” talent was called to Elstree Studios in London for a meeting with producer George Lucas and director Ron Howard about a new project called “Willow,” with the title role written specifically with the actor in mind. The project, in which he co-starred alongside Val Kilmer, allowed Warwick to showcase his acting talent beyond the portrayal of strange creatures hidden behind special makeup, earning him a Saturn Award nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.
Following that big screen success, the teenage Warwick was immediately back in front of the camera, this time for the small screen, in yet another fantasy epic. He was cast in two series for the BBC -- playing the swashbuckling mouse, Reepicheep, in the Narnian adventure “Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” then returning to C.S. Lewis’ wondrous world as Glimfeather the Owl in “The Silver Chair.” He next followed with his first villainous role in the cult horror classic, “Leprechaun,” whose success spawned no less than five sequels over the years, with Warwick returning to the title role in each.
In 1997, he returned to filmmaker Lucas’ famous galaxy far, far away in “Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace,” in which he essayed three roles in the film. In addition to the characters of Wald and Weazel, he also played the famous Jedi Master, Yoda, for scenes where the character was required to walk.
In 2001, the literary phenomenon, Harry Potter, became a cinematic one, with Warwick playing two characters (Professor Flitwick and the Goblin Bank Teller) in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” for director Chris Columbus. He reprised the role of Flitwick in the next four sequels, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” (again for Columbus), “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and the sixth in the series, “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.”
The career next launched him back into space, this time hitching a ride as Marvin the Paranoid Android in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” the big screen adaptation of Douglas Adams’ beloved novel. He also recently played the supporting role of Oberon, the jazz club m.c. who introduces singer Ray Charles to the performing world in Taylor Hackford’s Oscar-winning “Ray.”
His other credits over the years include “Labyrinth” (alongside David Bowie), the NBC telefilm “Gulliver’s Travels (co-starring opposite Ted Danson), “Prince Valiant,” “A Very Unlucky Leprechaun,” “The New Adventures of Pinocchio,” “The White Pony,” the groundbreaking NBC miniseries “The 10th Kingdom,” the BBC sitcom “The Fitz,” the ABC telefilm “Snow White,” the gangster caper “Al’s Lads,” and two BBC productions, “Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible” and “Murder Rooms: The Kingdom of Bones.” He recently completed a role in “Small Town Folk,” played himself in an episode of Ricky Gervais’ wicked industry satire, “Extras,” and will next write, produce and star in the action film, “Agent One-Half.”
As well as the many roles on the big and small screen, Warwick has trodden the boards of theaters throughout the United Kingdom. In addition to numerous appearances in “Snow White,” he has appeared as Smee in “Peter Pan” and as the Genie in “Aladdin.”
Warwick began his career purely by chance as a boy in 1981. His grandmother heard a radio announcement calling for people under four feet tall to appear in the new “Star Wars” film, “Return of the Jedi.” Originally cast as a background player, Warwick’s gestures were so characteristic of George Lucas’s vision of an Ewok that he was recast as Wicket, who became one of the film’s lead creature characters. After the huge success of the third “Star Wars” epic, Lucas made two Ewok movies for ABC television, “The Ewok Adventure” and “Ewoks: Battle for Endor,” with Warwick reprising his role as Wicket in both projects.
Two years later, the 3’ 6” talent was called to Elstree Studios in London for a meeting with producer George Lucas and director Ron Howard about a new project called “Willow,” with the title role written specifically with the actor in mind. The project, in which he co-starred alongside Val Kilmer, allowed Warwick to showcase his acting talent beyond the portrayal of strange creatures hidden behind special makeup, earning him a Saturn Award nomination from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror.
Following that big screen success, the teenage Warwick was immediately back in front of the camera, this time for the small screen, in yet another fantasy epic. He was cast in two series for the BBC -- playing the swashbuckling mouse, Reepicheep, in the Narnian adventure “Prince Caspian and the Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” then returning to C.S. Lewis’ wondrous world as Glimfeather the Owl in “The Silver Chair.” He next followed with his first villainous role in the cult horror classic, “Leprechaun,” whose success spawned no less than five sequels over the years, with Warwick returning to the title role in each.
In 1997, he returned to filmmaker Lucas’ famous galaxy far, far away in “Star Wars - Episode 1: The Phantom Menace,” in which he essayed three roles in the film. In addition to the characters of Wald and Weazel, he also played the famous Jedi Master, Yoda, for scenes where the character was required to walk.
In 2001, the literary phenomenon, Harry Potter, became a cinematic one, with Warwick playing two characters (Professor Flitwick and the Goblin Bank Teller) in “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” for director Chris Columbus. He reprised the role of Flitwick in the next four sequels, “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” (again for Columbus), “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and the sixth in the series, “Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.”
The career next launched him back into space, this time hitching a ride as Marvin the Paranoid Android in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” the big screen adaptation of Douglas Adams’ beloved novel. He also recently played the supporting role of Oberon, the jazz club m.c. who introduces singer Ray Charles to the performing world in Taylor Hackford’s Oscar-winning “Ray.”
His other credits over the years include “Labyrinth” (alongside David Bowie), the NBC telefilm “Gulliver’s Travels (co-starring opposite Ted Danson), “Prince Valiant,” “A Very Unlucky Leprechaun,” “The New Adventures of Pinocchio,” “The White Pony,” the groundbreaking NBC miniseries “The 10th Kingdom,” the BBC sitcom “The Fitz,” the ABC telefilm “Snow White,” the gangster caper “Al’s Lads,” and two BBC productions, “Dr. Terrible’s House of Horrible” and “Murder Rooms: The Kingdom of Bones.” He recently completed a role in “Small Town Folk,” played himself in an episode of Ricky Gervais’ wicked industry satire, “Extras,” and will next write, produce and star in the action film, “Agent One-Half.”
As well as the many roles on the big and small screen, Warwick has trodden the boards of theaters throughout the United Kingdom. In addition to numerous appearances in “Snow White,” he has appeared as Smee in “Peter Pan” and as the Genie in “Aladdin.”
PETER DINKLAGE (Trumpkin the Red Dwarf) is well-known to movie audiences as Finbar McBride
PETER DINKLAGE (Trumpkin the Red Dwarf) is well-known to movie audiences as Finbar McBride, the despondent loner who moves into an abandoned train depot after the unexpected death of a friend in Thomas McCarthy’s acclaimed comedy-drama, “The Station Agent.” For his performance in the endearing film, Dinklage was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award, the Screen Actors Guild Award (as Best Actor and as part of the film’s Best Enesmble Cast) and the Online Film Critics Association Award.
Dinklage, a New Jersey native, studied his craft at Vermont’s Bennington College before furthering his studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and the Welsh School of Music and Drama in Wales.
He made his film debut in Tom DiCillo's 1995 independent comedy “Living in Oblivion.” He followed with appearances in John Hamberg’s “Safe Men” (opposite Sam Rockwell, Steve Zahn and Paul Giamatti), Michel Gondry’s “Human Nature” (written by future Oscar winner Charlie Kaufman), Alexandre Rockwell’s “13 Moons” (reuniting with co-star Steve Buscemi) and the romantic comedies “Never Again” and “Just a Kiss” before triumphing in “The Station Agent,” which won acclaim at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.
Since that auspicious big screen starring debut, Dinklage has worked on over two dozen projects, most notably in Jon Favreau’s popular holiday classic, “Elf,” Sidney Lumet’s courtroom drama, “Find Me Guilty,” the acclaimed FX series, “Nip/Tuck,” “Lassie” opposite Peter O'Toole, “Tiptoes” with Gary Oldman, “The Baxter” and the recently completed features “Penelope" (with Reese Witherspoon), "Death At A Funeral” (directed by Frank Oz), “3/5 of A Man” and “Underdog.”
On the small screen, he guest-starred on “Third Watch,” “I’m With Her,” “Life As We Know it,” and co-starred opposite Brent Spiner on the CBS series “Threshold.”
Dinklage’s stage work includes the title role in The Public Theatre's production of "Richard III," "I Wanna Be Adored,” "Hollywood,” "Imperfect Love” and Charles Sturridge's production of Beckett's "Endgame" at the Gate Theatre in Dublin and The Barbican Theatre in London. Following his work on the film, he returned to the stage at the Acorn Theatre's “Things We Want,” which marked the Off-Broadway directorial debut of actor Ethan Hawke.
Dinklage, a New Jersey native, studied his craft at Vermont’s Bennington College before furthering his studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London and the Welsh School of Music and Drama in Wales.
He made his film debut in Tom DiCillo's 1995 independent comedy “Living in Oblivion.” He followed with appearances in John Hamberg’s “Safe Men” (opposite Sam Rockwell, Steve Zahn and Paul Giamatti), Michel Gondry’s “Human Nature” (written by future Oscar winner Charlie Kaufman), Alexandre Rockwell’s “13 Moons” (reuniting with co-star Steve Buscemi) and the romantic comedies “Never Again” and “Just a Kiss” before triumphing in “The Station Agent,” which won acclaim at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival.
Since that auspicious big screen starring debut, Dinklage has worked on over two dozen projects, most notably in Jon Favreau’s popular holiday classic, “Elf,” Sidney Lumet’s courtroom drama, “Find Me Guilty,” the acclaimed FX series, “Nip/Tuck,” “Lassie” opposite Peter O'Toole, “Tiptoes” with Gary Oldman, “The Baxter” and the recently completed features “Penelope" (with Reese Witherspoon), "Death At A Funeral” (directed by Frank Oz), “3/5 of A Man” and “Underdog.”
On the small screen, he guest-starred on “Third Watch,” “I’m With Her,” “Life As We Know it,” and co-starred opposite Brent Spiner on the CBS series “Threshold.”
Dinklage’s stage work includes the title role in The Public Theatre's production of "Richard III," "I Wanna Be Adored,” "Hollywood,” "Imperfect Love” and Charles Sturridge's production of Beckett's "Endgame" at the Gate Theatre in Dublin and The Barbican Theatre in London. Following his work on the film, he returned to the stage at the Acorn Theatre's “Things We Want,” which marked the Off-Broadway directorial debut of actor Ethan Hawke.
GEORGIE HENLEY (Lucy) returns as the youngest of the Pevensie siblings
GEORGIE HENLEY (Lucy) returns as the youngest of the Pevensie siblings. With her memory of Aslan resonating strongly with her, Lucy remains a child at heart in the second story. It is her gift for insight, understanding and relentless faith that helps her family and companions overcome Miraz’s reign and restore Narnia to its former glory.
Georgie made her professional acting debut in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” The 12-year-old from Ilkley, W. Yorkshire, in the north of England was already a member of a local drama club called Upstagers, where she was discovered by casting director Pippa Hall in a countrywide casting call for the film launched in June, 2003. Georgie won the role over 2,000 other hopefuls.
For her work in the first film, Georgie collected numerous awards and nominations from organizations around the world.. She won the Phoenix Film Critics Award (Best Performance by a Youth in a Support or Lead Role, Female), the Michael Eliot Trust Award (Child Star of the Year), the Total Film Award (the Dakota Fanning prize for Best Child Actor) and theYoung Artists Award (Best Performance/Feature Film -- ages ten and under).
Additionally, Georgie earned nominations as Best Young Actress from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, as Most Promising Newcomer for the United Kingdom’s Empire Awards, as Best Breakthrough Performance from the Online Film Critics Society and as Best Newcomer from the Chicago Film Critics circle.
Since her debut in the first “Narnia” film, Georgie played the young Jane Eyre in last year’s BBC production of “Jane Eyre.”
Georgie made her professional acting debut in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” The 12-year-old from Ilkley, W. Yorkshire, in the north of England was already a member of a local drama club called Upstagers, where she was discovered by casting director Pippa Hall in a countrywide casting call for the film launched in June, 2003. Georgie won the role over 2,000 other hopefuls.
For her work in the first film, Georgie collected numerous awards and nominations from organizations around the world.. She won the Phoenix Film Critics Award (Best Performance by a Youth in a Support or Lead Role, Female), the Michael Eliot Trust Award (Child Star of the Year), the Total Film Award (the Dakota Fanning prize for Best Child Actor) and theYoung Artists Award (Best Performance/Feature Film -- ages ten and under).
Additionally, Georgie earned nominations as Best Young Actress from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, as Most Promising Newcomer for the United Kingdom’s Empire Awards, as Best Breakthrough Performance from the Online Film Critics Society and as Best Newcomer from the Chicago Film Critics circle.
Since her debut in the first “Narnia” film, Georgie played the young Jane Eyre in last year’s BBC production of “Jane Eyre.”
SKANDAR KEYNES returns in the role of Edmund Pevensie
SKANDAR KEYNES returns in the role of Edmund Pevensie, the younger brother who after betraying his siblings for his own selfish gain during the Pevensie’s first journey through Narnia, redeems himself by fighting on the side of good against evil. Though still a boy, he has gained in wisdom and his courage has strengthened as the four Pevensies embark on this new adventure to assist the young Prince Caspian in overthrowing his evil uncle Miraz who has usurped his throne.
Skandar Keynes is a sixteen-year-old actor who first appeared at the age of nine in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Macbeth for TV. He immediately followed with another TV part as a Victorian waif in Jonathan Meade’s docudrama for BB2 The Victorians.
In 2001 Skandar played the world-famous Italian racing driver Enzo Ferrari as a child in Duemila Productions’ biopic Ferrari. It was in 2004 shortly before the start of filming that Skandar was cast as Edmund Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
Skandar Keynes is a sixteen-year-old actor who first appeared at the age of nine in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Macbeth for TV. He immediately followed with another TV part as a Victorian waif in Jonathan Meade’s docudrama for BB2 The Victorians.
In 2001 Skandar played the world-famous Italian racing driver Enzo Ferrari as a child in Duemila Productions’ biopic Ferrari. It was in 2004 shortly before the start of filming that Skandar was cast as Edmund Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
ANNA POPPLEWELL (Susan) returns to the land of Narnia
ANNA POPPLEWELL (Susan) returns to the land of Narnia as older sister Susan, this time showing a softer, more emotional side (unlike her pragmatic persona in the previous adventure). In the midst of the forming battle, she finds herself falling for the young, handsome Prince Caspian. The film represents the teenage Susan’s final appearance in the series.
Anna made her professional acting debut in the 1998 television adaptation of du Maurier’s novel, “Frenchman’s Creek.” She has appeared in such other feature films as “The Little Vampire,” “Me Without You,” and “Mansfield Park.” Her television roles include “Dirty Tricks” and the BBC costume dramas “Love in A Cold Climate” and "Daniel Deronda." Prior to her role in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” the 19-year-old beauty appeared as Vermeer’s eldest daughter in Peter Webber’s globally-acclaimed drama, “Girl with A Pearl Earring.”
Born and raised in London (the daughter of a barrister father and doctor mother), she is the eldest of three siblings, all of whom have attended ‘Allsorts’, a children’s drama class. Her sister Lulu appeared in Richard Curtis’ “Love, Actually,” and her brother Freddie was Michael Darling in PJ Hogan’s 2003 film, “Peter Pan.” Following her work on "Prince Caspian" Anna began her studies in English Literature at Magdalen College, Oxford, where author Lewis spent much of his academic career.
Anna made her professional acting debut in the 1998 television adaptation of du Maurier’s novel, “Frenchman’s Creek.” She has appeared in such other feature films as “The Little Vampire,” “Me Without You,” and “Mansfield Park.” Her television roles include “Dirty Tricks” and the BBC costume dramas “Love in A Cold Climate” and "Daniel Deronda." Prior to her role in “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” the 19-year-old beauty appeared as Vermeer’s eldest daughter in Peter Webber’s globally-acclaimed drama, “Girl with A Pearl Earring.”
Born and raised in London (the daughter of a barrister father and doctor mother), she is the eldest of three siblings, all of whom have attended ‘Allsorts’, a children’s drama class. Her sister Lulu appeared in Richard Curtis’ “Love, Actually,” and her brother Freddie was Michael Darling in PJ Hogan’s 2003 film, “Peter Pan.” Following her work on "Prince Caspian" Anna began her studies in English Literature at Magdalen College, Oxford, where author Lewis spent much of his academic career.
WILLIAM MOSELEY (Peter) reprises his role as Narnia’s High King
WILLIAM MOSELEY (Peter) reprises his role as Narnia’s High King, who returns to the enchanted land with his three siblings not to replace Caspian, but to help the young prince save Narnia from tyranny under the reign of the evil Miraz. “Prince Caspian” represents Peter’s final appearance in the series.
William (now 21 years old) had his first motion picture starring role in the first “Narnia” film, for which he earned nominations for the Saturn and Young Artists Awards.
The son of English cinematographer Peter Moseley, William is a native of Gloucestershire in the Cotswolds area of England. He was first spotted by casting director Pippa Hall almost a decade ago (while in primary school) when she was casting the 1998 English TV movie, “Cider with Rosie,” based on Laurie Lee’s memoirs about his childhood in the Cotswold Valley (coincidentally, the village next to the young actor’s own).
She kept her eye on the budding talent over the ensuing years, which led to his first audition for “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” eighteen months before filming commenced in June, 2004. Hall’s casting partner, Gail Stevens, cast him in the 2002 SMG telefilm, “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” his first professional role.
William (now 21 years old) had his first motion picture starring role in the first “Narnia” film, for which he earned nominations for the Saturn and Young Artists Awards.
The son of English cinematographer Peter Moseley, William is a native of Gloucestershire in the Cotswolds area of England. He was first spotted by casting director Pippa Hall almost a decade ago (while in primary school) when she was casting the 1998 English TV movie, “Cider with Rosie,” based on Laurie Lee’s memoirs about his childhood in the Cotswold Valley (coincidentally, the village next to the young actor’s own).
She kept her eye on the budding talent over the ensuing years, which led to his first audition for “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” eighteen months before filming commenced in June, 2004. Hall’s casting partner, Gail Stevens, cast him in the 2002 SMG telefilm, “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” his first professional role.
BEN BARNES' (Prince Caspian) starring role is the title character of C.S. Lewis’ second adventure in the land of Narnia
BEN BARNES' (Prince Caspian) first Hollywood motion picture starring role is the title character of C.S. Lewis’ second adventure in the land of Narnia.
Barnes is a veteran of the British stage. The 26-year-old U.K. native studied drama at Kingston University and was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre, where he debuted in “The Ballad of Salomon Pavey” at the age of fifteen. His other credits with NYMT include “The Ragged Child,” “Bugsy Malone” at the Queen’s Theatre, “The Dreaming” and “Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th Birthday” at the Royal Albert Hall.
Most recently, Barnes triumphed onstage again, winning rave reviews for his role of the charming, manipulative predator, Dakin, in Alan Bennett’s award-winning play, “The History Boys,” which had its West End premiere at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre.
Other British stagings include “Sex, Chips & Rock n' Roll” at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, "Loving Ophelia" at the Pleasance Theatre, “Judi Dench & Friends” gala at the Kingston Rose Theatre, as well as the workshop productions of “Blag” and "Talking to Mr. Warner" at the Chocolate Factory.
His recent film roles include the lead character of Cobbakka, a Russian delinquent who runs riot in London, in the independent feature “Bigga Than Ben,” and a featured role in Matthew Vaughn’s (“Layer Cake”) recent big screen fantasy, “Stardust.” He also co-starred for director Simon West (“Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”) in his recent CW network telefilm, “Split Decision” and just completed a co-starring role opposite Jessica Biel and Colin Firth in Stephan Elliott’s romantic comedy, “Easy Virtue.”
Barnes is a veteran of the British stage. The 26-year-old U.K. native studied drama at Kingston University and was a member of the National Youth Music Theatre, where he debuted in “The Ballad of Salomon Pavey” at the age of fifteen. His other credits with NYMT include “The Ragged Child,” “Bugsy Malone” at the Queen’s Theatre, “The Dreaming” and “Andrew Lloyd Webber's 50th Birthday” at the Royal Albert Hall.
Most recently, Barnes triumphed onstage again, winning rave reviews for his role of the charming, manipulative predator, Dakin, in Alan Bennett’s award-winning play, “The History Boys,” which had its West End premiere at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre.
Other British stagings include “Sex, Chips & Rock n' Roll” at the Royal Exchange in Manchester, "Loving Ophelia" at the Pleasance Theatre, “Judi Dench & Friends” gala at the Kingston Rose Theatre, as well as the workshop productions of “Blag” and "Talking to Mr. Warner" at the Chocolate Factory.
His recent film roles include the lead character of Cobbakka, a Russian delinquent who runs riot in London, in the independent feature “Bigga Than Ben,” and a featured role in Matthew Vaughn’s (“Layer Cake”) recent big screen fantasy, “Stardust.” He also co-starred for director Simon West (“Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”) in his recent CW network telefilm, “Split Decision” and just completed a co-starring role opposite Jessica Biel and Colin Firth in Stephan Elliott’s romantic comedy, “Easy Virtue.”
The world of Narnia was magically enriched through the collective talents
Taylor felt strongly that the sword defines the Telmarine culture. For Miraz and his fierce army of soldiers, he chose rapiers and falchions. “The rapier is a sophisticated weapon with a very long blade and a basketed hilt. It is used in a much more refined and subtle motion than the hack-and-slash motion of some of the weapons in the first film,” he says. “There’s a lot of ceremony in these various pieces, as well as an ornamentation that illustrates the pomp and ceremony of Miraz and his people.”
Taylor’s team manufactured 200 polearms in two different styles, 200 rapiers of varying design, over 100 falchions, 250 shields and 55 crossbows, including the handsome and deadly weapon wielded by Miraz’s queen, Pruniprismia. The Telmarine cavalry was equipped with soft shields and stunt gear, which included stunt-safe horse faceplates for the warhorses and unusual sculpted faceplate helmets for the soldiers.
“The Telmarines were a very exciting race of people to design,” Taylor concludes. “They are almost feudal. Their armor is resplendent and rich and beautiful, complemented by some very fine weaponry. They are a very fierce fighting force, so quite an adversary for the Narnian creatures.”
The world of Narnia was magically enriched through the collective talents and efforts of the production’s visual effects artists, once again headed by Oscar® nominee Dean Wright. Wright and longtime Adamson ally Wendy Rogers collaborated with a whole new group of computer wizards for PRINCE CASPIAN.
Wright and Rogers drafted three of the industry’s top VFX designers to bring the world of Narnia to the screen in this new chapter. Two London firms, The Moving Picture Company and the Oscar®-winning Framestore/CFC, joined the Oscar® winners from Weta Digital in New Zealand to digitally enhance the world of Narnia and envision CGI creatures the River God, Jadis the White Witch, Trufflehunter the faithful badger, Aslan the Lion and the valiant, swashbuckling rodent, Reepicheep.
As in the first film, virtually every moment and scene in the film has been touched by a VFX shot of some sort. “This is one of the biggest visual effects films ever made,” claims Wright. “Andrew was bound and determined to up the ante this time. We started off with at least twice the number of VFX shots as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
For the castle raid sequence, the movie’s epic action set piece, Wright partnered with two colleagues—The Moving Picture Company’s Greg Butler, whose team oversaw the action and character effects created for this sequence, and Weta Digital in New Zealand’s Guy Williams, who created the environments for the scene.
A virtual glossary of VFX practices were used to bring together all the elements to complete the film’s first big action scene. Wright estimates at least 300 VFX shots have been incorporated into this single scene.
Adamson also wanted to break the CGI barrier by merging real people realistically with the CG characters. Lucy hugging Aslan, Susan riding on the back of Glenstorm the centaur during their escape from the castle raid and the Pevensies and Caspian being carried into the castle by Gryphons all are prime examples of the intricacy of the film’s VFX work.
The decision to have Gryphons carry the children, Caspian and Trumpkin into the castle meant months of technical design, research and development with the assistance of motion control expert Ian Menzies. The VFX teams all over the world had to work in perfect synchronicity in order to pull off this eye-popping effect perfectly.
Animators at MPC in London plotted the path the children would fly and supervised the intricate moves on-set in Prague. The digital files for the shots were sent to Weta Digital in New Zealand, where “matchmakers” converted them for Alex Funke’s miniature crew to use in a camera test on the 1/24th scale castle model. Any changes required were then passed onto the on-set animators, who incorporated the new camera moves into their animation before finally sharing it with Menzies’ team. He took the information and fed it into the computer control “Gryphon rigs” connected to the motion control cameras to shoot the blue screen photography of the actors.
Months after the actual castle raid sequence was completed on location in Prague, Wright returned to New Zealand where he and Funke, one of the industry’s best miniature effects directors, shot footage on various miniature versions of the castle built at different scales.
“Andrew is a big fan of trying to put whatever is real in the frame,” Wright says. “Miniature sets make it seem more organic within the frame and the story. When you have a well-lit miniature, you again fall into this world of believing everything you’re seeing, and that’s what we wanted to do.”
“Having Andrew in the director’s chair is a godsend for us,” Dean Wright says. “As visual effects professionals, we want to be pushed. I think all the innovation that comes from visual effects comes from a director pushing you farther than you ever thought you could go.
“Andrew wanted to make this film bigger than the last, which meant throwing more complicated stuff at VFX,” the effects supervisor continues. “When kudos go out for visual effects, there should be an honorary place for the director. He’s the one that comes up with 95 percent of the vision of what you’re going to create. We’re there to help it and enhance it.”
Adamson says his goal was to give the audience something they hadn’t seen before. “And I think we’ve done that. There are a lot of things technique-wise that we developed and experimented with that we can take advantage of in the future. How do you do a centaur? How do you do a minotaur? We’ve got a forest of trees that join the battles this time, and we’ve generated trees that can move and wade through the earth. Now that we know how to do it, we don’t have to spend that money again.”
The biggest challenge for the film, according to Johnson, is living up to the standards created by The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. “People have seen the first movie and enjoyed it throughout the world,” he points put. “Their expectations are even higher. So we cannot be as good as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. We have to be even better.”
Adamson says directing THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA films has been one of the most satisfying projects of his career. “I have been given the opportunity to take a hugely important childhood memory and show people something that had previously only existed in our collective imaginings. I’ve approached these films by setting out to make movies inspired by my memory of the books as an eight-year-old. You’re very lucky if that happens once in your lifetime… but for me, it has happened again.”
Taylor’s team manufactured 200 polearms in two different styles, 200 rapiers of varying design, over 100 falchions, 250 shields and 55 crossbows, including the handsome and deadly weapon wielded by Miraz’s queen, Pruniprismia. The Telmarine cavalry was equipped with soft shields and stunt gear, which included stunt-safe horse faceplates for the warhorses and unusual sculpted faceplate helmets for the soldiers.
“The Telmarines were a very exciting race of people to design,” Taylor concludes. “They are almost feudal. Their armor is resplendent and rich and beautiful, complemented by some very fine weaponry. They are a very fierce fighting force, so quite an adversary for the Narnian creatures.”
The world of Narnia was magically enriched through the collective talents and efforts of the production’s visual effects artists, once again headed by Oscar® nominee Dean Wright. Wright and longtime Adamson ally Wendy Rogers collaborated with a whole new group of computer wizards for PRINCE CASPIAN.
Wright and Rogers drafted three of the industry’s top VFX designers to bring the world of Narnia to the screen in this new chapter. Two London firms, The Moving Picture Company and the Oscar®-winning Framestore/CFC, joined the Oscar® winners from Weta Digital in New Zealand to digitally enhance the world of Narnia and envision CGI creatures the River God, Jadis the White Witch, Trufflehunter the faithful badger, Aslan the Lion and the valiant, swashbuckling rodent, Reepicheep.
As in the first film, virtually every moment and scene in the film has been touched by a VFX shot of some sort. “This is one of the biggest visual effects films ever made,” claims Wright. “Andrew was bound and determined to up the ante this time. We started off with at least twice the number of VFX shots as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
For the castle raid sequence, the movie’s epic action set piece, Wright partnered with two colleagues—The Moving Picture Company’s Greg Butler, whose team oversaw the action and character effects created for this sequence, and Weta Digital in New Zealand’s Guy Williams, who created the environments for the scene.
A virtual glossary of VFX practices were used to bring together all the elements to complete the film’s first big action scene. Wright estimates at least 300 VFX shots have been incorporated into this single scene.
Adamson also wanted to break the CGI barrier by merging real people realistically with the CG characters. Lucy hugging Aslan, Susan riding on the back of Glenstorm the centaur during their escape from the castle raid and the Pevensies and Caspian being carried into the castle by Gryphons all are prime examples of the intricacy of the film’s VFX work.
The decision to have Gryphons carry the children, Caspian and Trumpkin into the castle meant months of technical design, research and development with the assistance of motion control expert Ian Menzies. The VFX teams all over the world had to work in perfect synchronicity in order to pull off this eye-popping effect perfectly.
Animators at MPC in London plotted the path the children would fly and supervised the intricate moves on-set in Prague. The digital files for the shots were sent to Weta Digital in New Zealand, where “matchmakers” converted them for Alex Funke’s miniature crew to use in a camera test on the 1/24th scale castle model. Any changes required were then passed onto the on-set animators, who incorporated the new camera moves into their animation before finally sharing it with Menzies’ team. He took the information and fed it into the computer control “Gryphon rigs” connected to the motion control cameras to shoot the blue screen photography of the actors.
Months after the actual castle raid sequence was completed on location in Prague, Wright returned to New Zealand where he and Funke, one of the industry’s best miniature effects directors, shot footage on various miniature versions of the castle built at different scales.
“Andrew is a big fan of trying to put whatever is real in the frame,” Wright says. “Miniature sets make it seem more organic within the frame and the story. When you have a well-lit miniature, you again fall into this world of believing everything you’re seeing, and that’s what we wanted to do.”
“Having Andrew in the director’s chair is a godsend for us,” Dean Wright says. “As visual effects professionals, we want to be pushed. I think all the innovation that comes from visual effects comes from a director pushing you farther than you ever thought you could go.
“Andrew wanted to make this film bigger than the last, which meant throwing more complicated stuff at VFX,” the effects supervisor continues. “When kudos go out for visual effects, there should be an honorary place for the director. He’s the one that comes up with 95 percent of the vision of what you’re going to create. We’re there to help it and enhance it.”
Adamson says his goal was to give the audience something they hadn’t seen before. “And I think we’ve done that. There are a lot of things technique-wise that we developed and experimented with that we can take advantage of in the future. How do you do a centaur? How do you do a minotaur? We’ve got a forest of trees that join the battles this time, and we’ve generated trees that can move and wade through the earth. Now that we know how to do it, we don’t have to spend that money again.”
The biggest challenge for the film, according to Johnson, is living up to the standards created by The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. “People have seen the first movie and enjoyed it throughout the world,” he points put. “Their expectations are even higher. So we cannot be as good as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. We have to be even better.”
Adamson says directing THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA films has been one of the most satisfying projects of his career. “I have been given the opportunity to take a hugely important childhood memory and show people something that had previously only existed in our collective imaginings. I’ve approached these films by setting out to make movies inspired by my memory of the books as an eight-year-old. You’re very lucky if that happens once in your lifetime… but for me, it has happened again.”
Telmarines soldiers and Lords using Richard's prototypes for the helmets
One of Ford’s more whimsical designs for the film is Trufflehunter’s Den, an octagonal structure built on wheels so that pieces of the set could be dismantled to allow intricate camera angles. Director Adamson mounted a still photo camera on a pole, and used it to photograph an actual badger’s den inside the hollow of an oak tree. Those photos inspired Ford’s set design and Kerrie Brown’s set dressing, which added a touch of verisimilitude to Lewis’ imaginary world.
At New Zealand’s Henderson Studios outside of Auckland, Ford’s crew built the Treasure Chamber, a decaying, two-story subterranean cavern. For inspiration in creating the massive treasure collection, Brown visited several museums in London and Paris and took photographs of lavish gifts that had been presented to the nobility of various countries. “We wanted the room to show that Peter and Edmund and Susan and Lucy, when they were kings and queens in Narnia, had been presented with treasures from people from different lands,” she says.
Brown next scoured prop stores in Australia and New Zealand to rent chalices, urns, armor and such, “but there wasn’t enough to fill up this huge room.” She added over 2,000 props designed, molded and sculpted by her prop department. That busy department, headed by Roland Stevenson, kept a staff of 35 working around the clock to manufacture over 7,000 prop pieces for the entire film.
Costume designer Isis Mussenden engineered the creation of hundreds of original wardrobe designs to clothe the Telmarines. Supervising a staff of over 70 artisans in both Prague and Auckland, Mussenden drew upon two sources for her vivid designs—folk dress of Sardinia and the paintings of the Cretan artist and Byzantine Mannerist, El Greco. “There are images in Pauline Baynes’ illustrations for the book that stay with one forever,” Mussenden recalls. “We never intended to ignore them. At the same time, I could not be bound by her illustrations either, because we are designing three-dimensional costumes.
“I like to start with a color palette,” she notes about the cool silver and gray shadings of the Telmarine army. “We already had the palette of the Narnians, but we needed to create one for the Telmarines. We didn’t want to use red and gold. Those are Narnian colors. I eventually chose several paintings of El Greco. They are gruesome images, acidic and cool, and were perfect for our needs.”
The next piece of the puzzle was taken from a book about the Sardinian cultural dress she found on a shopping trip to Italy. “Sardinia is a notorious rough-and-tough island which sported the new look I was after,” Mussenden says. “Skirts, vest, wide belts, garters and jackets...no capes! We went for the Mediterranean feel, which was a call by Andrew, to get ourselves in a different culture, a little different skin tone, a little different flavor.”
She also visited the curator of one of the world’s foremost armor collections, Stuart Pyhrr of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. A private tour and an afternoon in the archives provided the spark for what would become the Telmarines battle gear.
“The scope of this film for us in the wardrobe department was ten times bigger than the first one,” she exclaims. “Not only in the actual count of how many characters and extras for whom we had to make costumes, but also the number of multiple costumes we had to make to cover stunt doubles, photo doubles, actors’ growth and just wear and tear over six months of shooting.”
“I designed and manufactured an army, which I have never done before,” Mussenden says. “While it was fascinating and interesting, it was also more work than I could have ever imagined.” Mussenden and associate designer Kimberly Adams, her longtime colleague and friend, estimate they built 262 cast outfits, 3,722 individual items for the Telmarine army including helmets, masks, brigandines, underbrigs, shirts, pants, boots, gloves and grieves, 1,003 Telmarine villager stock items and 2,184 metal rivets per brigandine (for a total of almost 1 million rivets).
Mussenden closely collaborated with Weta’s Richard Taylor in the design of the weapons and armor for both Telmarines and Narnians. “We also had a wonderful team of armorists in the Czech Republic who fabricated everything for the Telmarines soldiers and Lords using Richard's prototypes for the helmets and etching motifs,” she continues. “It was an interesting contrast of old world techniques and the high-tech new design world of Weta.”
“Miraz and his Lords needed special weaponry,” Taylor says. “Weta created individual swords, scabbards and sculpted faceplate helmets for the featured Lords including Glozelle, who also has a beautiful dagger. Miraz himself has a special shield, sword, scabbard, full plate armor and an ornate faceplate helmet.”
“Miraz’s helmet and facial mask represent the manner in which he commands his forces,” Taylor says about the unique designs. “The idea that it’s a faceless army hidden behind these masks, not showing their emotions or their faces, is captured in these very stylistic Italian ceremonial masks they wear.”
At New Zealand’s Henderson Studios outside of Auckland, Ford’s crew built the Treasure Chamber, a decaying, two-story subterranean cavern. For inspiration in creating the massive treasure collection, Brown visited several museums in London and Paris and took photographs of lavish gifts that had been presented to the nobility of various countries. “We wanted the room to show that Peter and Edmund and Susan and Lucy, when they were kings and queens in Narnia, had been presented with treasures from people from different lands,” she says.
Brown next scoured prop stores in Australia and New Zealand to rent chalices, urns, armor and such, “but there wasn’t enough to fill up this huge room.” She added over 2,000 props designed, molded and sculpted by her prop department. That busy department, headed by Roland Stevenson, kept a staff of 35 working around the clock to manufacture over 7,000 prop pieces for the entire film.
Costume designer Isis Mussenden engineered the creation of hundreds of original wardrobe designs to clothe the Telmarines. Supervising a staff of over 70 artisans in both Prague and Auckland, Mussenden drew upon two sources for her vivid designs—folk dress of Sardinia and the paintings of the Cretan artist and Byzantine Mannerist, El Greco. “There are images in Pauline Baynes’ illustrations for the book that stay with one forever,” Mussenden recalls. “We never intended to ignore them. At the same time, I could not be bound by her illustrations either, because we are designing three-dimensional costumes.
“I like to start with a color palette,” she notes about the cool silver and gray shadings of the Telmarine army. “We already had the palette of the Narnians, but we needed to create one for the Telmarines. We didn’t want to use red and gold. Those are Narnian colors. I eventually chose several paintings of El Greco. They are gruesome images, acidic and cool, and were perfect for our needs.”
The next piece of the puzzle was taken from a book about the Sardinian cultural dress she found on a shopping trip to Italy. “Sardinia is a notorious rough-and-tough island which sported the new look I was after,” Mussenden says. “Skirts, vest, wide belts, garters and jackets...no capes! We went for the Mediterranean feel, which was a call by Andrew, to get ourselves in a different culture, a little different skin tone, a little different flavor.”
She also visited the curator of one of the world’s foremost armor collections, Stuart Pyhrr of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. A private tour and an afternoon in the archives provided the spark for what would become the Telmarines battle gear.
“The scope of this film for us in the wardrobe department was ten times bigger than the first one,” she exclaims. “Not only in the actual count of how many characters and extras for whom we had to make costumes, but also the number of multiple costumes we had to make to cover stunt doubles, photo doubles, actors’ growth and just wear and tear over six months of shooting.”
“I designed and manufactured an army, which I have never done before,” Mussenden says. “While it was fascinating and interesting, it was also more work than I could have ever imagined.” Mussenden and associate designer Kimberly Adams, her longtime colleague and friend, estimate they built 262 cast outfits, 3,722 individual items for the Telmarine army including helmets, masks, brigandines, underbrigs, shirts, pants, boots, gloves and grieves, 1,003 Telmarine villager stock items and 2,184 metal rivets per brigandine (for a total of almost 1 million rivets).
Mussenden closely collaborated with Weta’s Richard Taylor in the design of the weapons and armor for both Telmarines and Narnians. “We also had a wonderful team of armorists in the Czech Republic who fabricated everything for the Telmarines soldiers and Lords using Richard's prototypes for the helmets and etching motifs,” she continues. “It was an interesting contrast of old world techniques and the high-tech new design world of Weta.”
“Miraz and his Lords needed special weaponry,” Taylor says. “Weta created individual swords, scabbards and sculpted faceplate helmets for the featured Lords including Glozelle, who also has a beautiful dagger. Miraz himself has a special shield, sword, scabbard, full plate armor and an ornate faceplate helmet.”
“Miraz’s helmet and facial mask represent the manner in which he commands his forces,” Taylor says about the unique designs. “The idea that it’s a faceless army hidden behind these masks, not showing their emotions or their faces, is captured in these very stylistic Italian ceremonial masks they wear.”
The designer used Lewis’ scant descriptive phrases as the inspiration for his vivid interpretations of the film’s settings
The studios are large enough to house a small forest. In fact, Barrandov’s brand new ‘Max’ Stage 8 became C.S. Lewis’ Dancing Lawn, an indoor forest complete with a sophisticated sprinkling system to feed the living set. “Dancing Lawn is a place so deep in the forest that the Telmarines have never found it,” production designer Roger Ford explains. “In the book, it's a place where the fauns and other Narnian creatures go to dance in the night. In the film, it’s the place the Narnians gather to plan their campaign with Caspian.”
The designer used Lewis’ scant descriptive phrases as the inspiration for his vivid interpretations of the film’s settings. He did not take his obligations lightly, understanding that his interpretations would be closely scrutinized by fans.
Ford’s signature set piece was the mammoth castle courtyard built on the studio’s backlot. The set, which he calls a character in the story, began with Lewis’ simple phrase: “Caspian lived in a great castle...” Six stories high, the castle shoots some 200 feet into the sky courtesy of VFX augmentation and contains more than 20,000 square feet of interior space. The magnificent design took 200 carpenters, painters, sculptors and other craftspeople 15 weeks to build.
Two symbols were chosen to emphasize that the Telmarines “are warlike, and not a very nice bunch of chaps,” according to Ford. Much of the Telmarine world is adorned with the head of an eagle, which embellishes not only the castle courtyard on the backlot and the crossbows used by the Telmarines, but the arms of the various thrones scattered throughout Miraz’s Great Hall.
In addition, Ford was inspired by the Telmarines’ origins as a pirate culture to use the compass on the soldiers’ shields, in the architecture of the Great Hall and in the banners fabricated for each of the 21 lords under Miraz’s rule.
Equally impressive in scope and detail are the ruins of the Stone Table in the How, where Aslan the Lion was sacrificed in the first story. The crypt-like, circular structure was carved out of plaster and polystyrene, with pillars reaching dozens of feet towards the stage’s towering ceiling. It contains a series of detailed plaster carvings that depict the history of the Narnians over the past 1,300 years.
“The How was such an important storytelling piece because of the Stone Table,” explains supervising art director Frank Walsh. “We had to develop and tell the story of what happened during those missing hundreds of years. These carved stone panels are all very important images.”
Adamson came up with the idea of “a channel or trough around the How directly beneath the wall carvings,” Ford says. “It is a well of oil that Caspian lights with a torch. The flames encircle the room, lighting up the panels.”
“We couldn’t use real oil or burning liquid because it’s hard to control,” explains mechanical effects supervisor and designer Gerd Feuchter. “We had to create a special propane burner which we then placed underneath a level of colored water.” The grid of propane valves sat underwater in the circular trough, which baffled set visitors, who had no idea that propane could burn underwater.
Ford’s crew spent over two months in the Bovec region of Slovenia erecting a massive bridge over the River Soca and its tributary Gljun for the setting of what may be the most memorable moment in the film, the River God sequence.
“In the book, the Bridge at Beruna is built by the Telmarines hundreds of years earlier,” says the designer. “When the Narnians are finally victorious, Aslan calls on the River God to destroy the bridge and free the river.”
Industrial engineers were called in to reroute the river’s flow to accommodate Ford’s set designs for the scene. The film’s bridge was constructed out of over-sized pine logs lashed together with massive ropes. It had to be a practical bridge that could hold 200 soldiers (and dozens of crew members and heavy equipment) charging across it. “It was really quite extraordinary,” Ford says, referring to the engineering and the machinery involved.
“It required a real piece of civil engineering,” adds supervising art director Frank Walsh, “We were introduced to the biggest bridge builder in Slovenia, the Primorje Group, and they didn’t even bat an eye. They adapted their operation and approach to what we wanted, came on board and were fantastic.”
The designer used Lewis’ scant descriptive phrases as the inspiration for his vivid interpretations of the film’s settings. He did not take his obligations lightly, understanding that his interpretations would be closely scrutinized by fans.
Ford’s signature set piece was the mammoth castle courtyard built on the studio’s backlot. The set, which he calls a character in the story, began with Lewis’ simple phrase: “Caspian lived in a great castle...” Six stories high, the castle shoots some 200 feet into the sky courtesy of VFX augmentation and contains more than 20,000 square feet of interior space. The magnificent design took 200 carpenters, painters, sculptors and other craftspeople 15 weeks to build.
Two symbols were chosen to emphasize that the Telmarines “are warlike, and not a very nice bunch of chaps,” according to Ford. Much of the Telmarine world is adorned with the head of an eagle, which embellishes not only the castle courtyard on the backlot and the crossbows used by the Telmarines, but the arms of the various thrones scattered throughout Miraz’s Great Hall.
In addition, Ford was inspired by the Telmarines’ origins as a pirate culture to use the compass on the soldiers’ shields, in the architecture of the Great Hall and in the banners fabricated for each of the 21 lords under Miraz’s rule.
Equally impressive in scope and detail are the ruins of the Stone Table in the How, where Aslan the Lion was sacrificed in the first story. The crypt-like, circular structure was carved out of plaster and polystyrene, with pillars reaching dozens of feet towards the stage’s towering ceiling. It contains a series of detailed plaster carvings that depict the history of the Narnians over the past 1,300 years.
“The How was such an important storytelling piece because of the Stone Table,” explains supervising art director Frank Walsh. “We had to develop and tell the story of what happened during those missing hundreds of years. These carved stone panels are all very important images.”
Adamson came up with the idea of “a channel or trough around the How directly beneath the wall carvings,” Ford says. “It is a well of oil that Caspian lights with a torch. The flames encircle the room, lighting up the panels.”
“We couldn’t use real oil or burning liquid because it’s hard to control,” explains mechanical effects supervisor and designer Gerd Feuchter. “We had to create a special propane burner which we then placed underneath a level of colored water.” The grid of propane valves sat underwater in the circular trough, which baffled set visitors, who had no idea that propane could burn underwater.
Ford’s crew spent over two months in the Bovec region of Slovenia erecting a massive bridge over the River Soca and its tributary Gljun for the setting of what may be the most memorable moment in the film, the River God sequence.
“In the book, the Bridge at Beruna is built by the Telmarines hundreds of years earlier,” says the designer. “When the Narnians are finally victorious, Aslan calls on the River God to destroy the bridge and free the river.”
Industrial engineers were called in to reroute the river’s flow to accommodate Ford’s set designs for the scene. The film’s bridge was constructed out of over-sized pine logs lashed together with massive ropes. It had to be a practical bridge that could hold 200 soldiers (and dozens of crew members and heavy equipment) charging across it. “It was really quite extraordinary,” Ford says, referring to the engineering and the machinery involved.
“It required a real piece of civil engineering,” adds supervising art director Frank Walsh, “We were introduced to the biggest bridge builder in Slovenia, the Primorje Group, and they didn’t even bat an eye. They adapted their operation and approach to what we wanted, came on board and were fantastic.”
Prince Caspian Shooting Locations
C.S. Lewis began Prince Caspian with the following passage:
Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, and it has been told in another book called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe how they had a remarkable adventure.
The second remarkable journey for Adamson and his team of artisans and actors (which numbered about 2,000 by the time filming ended) began while the first project was still in post-production. While screenwriters Markus and McFeely toiled on the script, pre-visualization artist Rpin Suwannath coordinated a staff of twelve artists and started visualizing the movie in a computer.
“Pre-visualization is the process of creating computer generated animatics that serve as a creative, technical and useful tool for budgeting the movie, and let Andrew visualize his scenes months before he shoots them,” explains Suwannath, who oversaw the same responsibilities on the first movie.
The process was vital to Adamson’s ability to mount a film of this magnitude. “It helps you see pieces of the puzzle that aren’t there on the day you direct these huge scenes,” the director says. “I can’t imagine not using pre-viz for a movie like this.”
While Suwannath and his team began to visualize the world of Narnia inside their computers, the filmmakers began their lengthy, global search to find locations that would evoke a vastly different realm than the winter landscape depicted in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
“Narnia doesn't exist,” says Mark Johnson. “Except in C.S. Lewis' imagination. And in Andrew Adamson’s vision. In putting together this physical Narnia, we had location scouts all over the world for almost a year before filming began, trying to find places we could use to portray Narnia."
James Crowley, who served as location manager on the first film, along with a team of regional scouts went to twenty countries spanning six continents.
“There was a predetermined feeling about New Zealand,” Crowley says. “Europe was also discussed, but not where specifically. Part of this was due to the seasons. For this story, we needed an endless summer, so the seasons and the hemisphere played a huge factor in determining the final locations for the movie.”
The filmmakers ultimately chose to shoot in the Czech Republic (including Prague, Usti and the Brdo region near Dobris), Poland (Stolowe National Park near Kudowa-Zdrój; the Kamiencyka Gorge in Szklarska Poreba), Slovenia (the River Soca in Bovec near the country’s only national park, Triglavski Narodni Park) and New Zealand.
“The thing that New Zealand offers that a lot of places don't is a proliferation of old-growth forests,” Adamson says, explaining what drew him back to his native country. “There's not an area of Europe that hasn't been felled and regrown at some point, so finding an old growth forest is very difficult. In New Zealand, the whole west coast of the South Island is covered with ancient forests.”
Shooting began at two breathtaking sites on the Coromandel Peninsula’s Mercury Bay, which served as the settings for scenes in which the Pevensie children take their first steps back into Narnia: Cathedral Cove, a spectacular beach on the eastern shore of the peninsula, and a majestic bluff rising several hundred feet above the ocean where the siblings discover the ruins of Cair Paravel.
The company then departed for the country’s South Island, a magical place offering some of the planet’s most glorious scenery. Three sites were chosen for the two-week trip south. The first two, spectacular rivers in the country’s South Westland area have been given aliases to prevent them from being overrun by tourists—the “Westland River,” a scenic site which dramatically empties out to the Tasman Sea, and “Glasswater River.”
This second locale is defined by a dramatic river chasm bookended by cascading waterfalls that plunge 200 feet into the glassy waters. The water shimmered so clearly, actress Popplewell says, “Audiences won’t believe it’s real water because it appears to be an optical illusion created by VFX in post-production.”
The third South Island site chosen for filming was Paradise, a privately-owned horse ranch about an hour’s drive from Queenstown. “There were a couple of locations that were perfect for this movie that only New Zealand could offer,” says Johnson. “In many ways, it is a fairytale country with the kind of locations that make your jaw drop. New Zealand gave us the magic of Narnia.”
After a ten-day break in production to relocate scores of crew members and the film equipment literally halfway around the world, PRINCE CASPIAN resumed filming in Prague, also known as “the City of 100 Spires” because of the plethora of church and castle towers that dot its skyline.
“Prague is a popular place for film shoots,” says Johnson, “for a number of reasons. They have very good film crews; all the necessary equipment and sound stages are available here; and it’s a relatively inexpensive place to shoot, which is a real factor these days.”
The location was also an advantage for the cast. “It was really difficult on the children and their families to spend six or seven months in New Zealand on the last film,” he says. “From central Europe, they could be back home in England in a couple of hours. That was really important for them.”
The capital of the Czech Republic doubled for World War II England with the collective help of the art department, costumes and transportation. The road in front of the Praha Rudolfinum, one of the city’s grand concert halls, was transformed into Trafalgar Square circa 1941, with a bit of help from VFX supervisor Wright, who rotoscoped in footage from that era.
Prague is also the home of legendary Barrandov Studios, which has attracted plenty of large-scale productions over the last decade, of which this film is reportedly the biggest. Since its beginnings in 1931, Barrandov has launched the careers of cinema giants including Milos Forman, Jirí Menzel and the late Ján Kadár. In recent years, Hollywood has brought in productions including “Casino Royale,” “The Brothers Grimm” and “The Bourne Identity,” as well as “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.”
Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy, and it has been told in another book called The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe how they had a remarkable adventure.
The second remarkable journey for Adamson and his team of artisans and actors (which numbered about 2,000 by the time filming ended) began while the first project was still in post-production. While screenwriters Markus and McFeely toiled on the script, pre-visualization artist Rpin Suwannath coordinated a staff of twelve artists and started visualizing the movie in a computer.
“Pre-visualization is the process of creating computer generated animatics that serve as a creative, technical and useful tool for budgeting the movie, and let Andrew visualize his scenes months before he shoots them,” explains Suwannath, who oversaw the same responsibilities on the first movie.
The process was vital to Adamson’s ability to mount a film of this magnitude. “It helps you see pieces of the puzzle that aren’t there on the day you direct these huge scenes,” the director says. “I can’t imagine not using pre-viz for a movie like this.”
While Suwannath and his team began to visualize the world of Narnia inside their computers, the filmmakers began their lengthy, global search to find locations that would evoke a vastly different realm than the winter landscape depicted in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
“Narnia doesn't exist,” says Mark Johnson. “Except in C.S. Lewis' imagination. And in Andrew Adamson’s vision. In putting together this physical Narnia, we had location scouts all over the world for almost a year before filming began, trying to find places we could use to portray Narnia."
James Crowley, who served as location manager on the first film, along with a team of regional scouts went to twenty countries spanning six continents.
“There was a predetermined feeling about New Zealand,” Crowley says. “Europe was also discussed, but not where specifically. Part of this was due to the seasons. For this story, we needed an endless summer, so the seasons and the hemisphere played a huge factor in determining the final locations for the movie.”
The filmmakers ultimately chose to shoot in the Czech Republic (including Prague, Usti and the Brdo region near Dobris), Poland (Stolowe National Park near Kudowa-Zdrój; the Kamiencyka Gorge in Szklarska Poreba), Slovenia (the River Soca in Bovec near the country’s only national park, Triglavski Narodni Park) and New Zealand.
“The thing that New Zealand offers that a lot of places don't is a proliferation of old-growth forests,” Adamson says, explaining what drew him back to his native country. “There's not an area of Europe that hasn't been felled and regrown at some point, so finding an old growth forest is very difficult. In New Zealand, the whole west coast of the South Island is covered with ancient forests.”
Shooting began at two breathtaking sites on the Coromandel Peninsula’s Mercury Bay, which served as the settings for scenes in which the Pevensie children take their first steps back into Narnia: Cathedral Cove, a spectacular beach on the eastern shore of the peninsula, and a majestic bluff rising several hundred feet above the ocean where the siblings discover the ruins of Cair Paravel.
The company then departed for the country’s South Island, a magical place offering some of the planet’s most glorious scenery. Three sites were chosen for the two-week trip south. The first two, spectacular rivers in the country’s South Westland area have been given aliases to prevent them from being overrun by tourists—the “Westland River,” a scenic site which dramatically empties out to the Tasman Sea, and “Glasswater River.”
This second locale is defined by a dramatic river chasm bookended by cascading waterfalls that plunge 200 feet into the glassy waters. The water shimmered so clearly, actress Popplewell says, “Audiences won’t believe it’s real water because it appears to be an optical illusion created by VFX in post-production.”
The third South Island site chosen for filming was Paradise, a privately-owned horse ranch about an hour’s drive from Queenstown. “There were a couple of locations that were perfect for this movie that only New Zealand could offer,” says Johnson. “In many ways, it is a fairytale country with the kind of locations that make your jaw drop. New Zealand gave us the magic of Narnia.”
After a ten-day break in production to relocate scores of crew members and the film equipment literally halfway around the world, PRINCE CASPIAN resumed filming in Prague, also known as “the City of 100 Spires” because of the plethora of church and castle towers that dot its skyline.
“Prague is a popular place for film shoots,” says Johnson, “for a number of reasons. They have very good film crews; all the necessary equipment and sound stages are available here; and it’s a relatively inexpensive place to shoot, which is a real factor these days.”
The location was also an advantage for the cast. “It was really difficult on the children and their families to spend six or seven months in New Zealand on the last film,” he says. “From central Europe, they could be back home in England in a couple of hours. That was really important for them.”
The capital of the Czech Republic doubled for World War II England with the collective help of the art department, costumes and transportation. The road in front of the Praha Rudolfinum, one of the city’s grand concert halls, was transformed into Trafalgar Square circa 1941, with a bit of help from VFX supervisor Wright, who rotoscoped in footage from that era.
Prague is also the home of legendary Barrandov Studios, which has attracted plenty of large-scale productions over the last decade, of which this film is reportedly the biggest. Since its beginnings in 1931, Barrandov has launched the careers of cinema giants including Milos Forman, Jirí Menzel and the late Ján Kadár. In recent years, Hollywood has brought in productions including “Casino Royale,” “The Brothers Grimm” and “The Bourne Identity,” as well as “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.”
The filmmakers auditioned over 100 voices to find the right actor to bring the character to life
While Lane concentrated her daily efforts on actor Dinklage, fellow makeup artist Sarah Rubano won the assignment to metamorphose Warwick Davis into a character the actor himself calls “sour inside.”
“Howard’s makeup was loads of help for me in understanding the character,” says Davis. “Then you find the character’s voice. Then Isis’ costume, which was such an immaculate piece of workmanship… while the detail may not come across for audiences, subliminally, it’s all there. As an actor, it makes you feel so at home in the character. I lived, worked and fought in those clothes. You are then placed in the surroundings, the sets, and magically, you are in Narnia.”
“Warwick is an actor who has been able to imbue all of his characters with something different,” notes producer Johnson. “That's what I prize most in an actor—surprises. I think his Nikabrik character is very surprising because he is irascible, yet speaks real logic. Nikabrik has really paid for the fact that Narnia has been under the thumb of the Telmarines. So he has some real surprises as a character up his sleeve.”
Davis was intrigued by a clever illustration of the character done by one of Berger’s associates at KNB, John Wheaton. “It was brilliant, because it was me, but as an old man. It was my photograph over which he painted the character concept. It captured Nikabrik perfectly.”
When Davis looked in the mirror after the marathon session, “What I saw was the character in three dimensions that Howard’s artist had portrayed in two dimensions,” the actor notes. “It was astounding.”
Another daily visitor to Berger’s trailer camp was English musical theatre star Cornell S. John, who plays Glenstorm, the powerful Afro-Narnian centaur who aids the Prince Caspian and the Pevensies in their fight against Miraz.
“For Glenstorm, Andrew wanted a tall and imposing actor of African descent,” casting director Stevens remembers. “Glenstorm is a wise, spiritual character who is also a great warrior, so he needed to move with grace and dignity. We did a global search that went as far afield as Africa and found Cornell in London. We had known and admired him in many leading roles in musical theatre and opera, from ‘The Lion King’ to ‘Porgy and Bess.’”
John endured a lengthy makeup process that transformed the actor into one of mythology’s quintessential creatures, the centaur—half-man and half-horse. Latex face appliances combined with green screen tights over which the VFX magicians superimposed the body and legs of a horse turned the soft-spoken actor into one of the film’s most imposing creations.
“I’m 160% Mike Fields, the guy who did my makeup,” John states. “In the beginning, I had no idea what I should look like. I was hoping for something that expressed honor, pride and tradition. Because centaurs can live for hundreds of years, there’s no age limit on this. I put myself at 170 Earth years. This face of Glenstorm is the face of time.”
And, as they did on the first film, KNB created life-sized animatronic puppets and suits for the CGI character of Aslan for use on the set during filming.
“Andrew wanted him to be 15 percent larger,” says Berger. “We were able to utilize the digital scanning information from the first film and have Cyber FX mill out a new sculpture 15 percent larger than the first. We ended up with a very large lion in the shop.”
The face of Reepicheep, the swashbuckling mouse, did not come from the brush of one of Berger’s talented artists. Instead, the rodent was born from the strokes of a keyboard mouse, through computer software under the control by VFX co-supervisor Wendy Rogers.
“I grew up on the Narnia books and Reepicheep was definitely one of my favorite characters,” director Adamson says of the gallant, honorable and noble mouse who wields “a tiny little rapier,” in author Lewis’ description of the character. “He was ingrained in my imagination. The trick here was finding the right voice. He was difficult to find, but we finally cast Eddie Izzard for the part.”
The filmmakers auditioned over 100 voices to find the right actor to bring the character to life, says producer Mark Johnson. “Eddie Izzard's voice came closest to the seriousness of the character and yet didn't in any way repel us or not let us have immediate affection for Reepicheep.”
Once the filmmakers chose Izzard, Rogers focused on physicalizing the character. “Reepicheep is a big mouse, some 22 inches tall,” Rogers explains. “That will take some suspension of disbelief. At that size, we still have to make him feel like he’s a mouse. We have to find the correct balance between anthropomorphizing Reepicheep and maintaining the fact that he is a real animal—a mouse.
“The voice actor plays such a big part in defining the character,” Rogers continues. “It’s not the fact that the animated character resembles the actor playing him. The actor may do some mannerisms or a physical flourish, like wave a sword. We have lipstick cams at these recording sessions to capture that. That helps our exploration of who the character is.”
Of all the Narnian characters London-based visual effects house The Moving Picture Company (MPC) had to create for PRINCE CASPIAN, Reepicheep was the one requiring the most art direction and overall attention to detail, says MPC’s Greg Butler. “One of the first challenges was that a very big mouse would be hard to keep looking ’mousey.’ We wanted to make sure Reepicheep didn’t end up looking like a rat. We also had to work out an anatomy that was based on a mouse, but still allowed him to sword-fight, wear armor, and walk on two as well as four legs.”
“This story is Reepicheep’s introduction,” says Adamson. “Dawn Treader will be his story. What we’ve done is establish him for the next Narnia adventure. I didn’t really get to exploit him like so many other characters. But he is so worthwhile and interesting.”
“Howard’s makeup was loads of help for me in understanding the character,” says Davis. “Then you find the character’s voice. Then Isis’ costume, which was such an immaculate piece of workmanship… while the detail may not come across for audiences, subliminally, it’s all there. As an actor, it makes you feel so at home in the character. I lived, worked and fought in those clothes. You are then placed in the surroundings, the sets, and magically, you are in Narnia.”
“Warwick is an actor who has been able to imbue all of his characters with something different,” notes producer Johnson. “That's what I prize most in an actor—surprises. I think his Nikabrik character is very surprising because he is irascible, yet speaks real logic. Nikabrik has really paid for the fact that Narnia has been under the thumb of the Telmarines. So he has some real surprises as a character up his sleeve.”
Davis was intrigued by a clever illustration of the character done by one of Berger’s associates at KNB, John Wheaton. “It was brilliant, because it was me, but as an old man. It was my photograph over which he painted the character concept. It captured Nikabrik perfectly.”
When Davis looked in the mirror after the marathon session, “What I saw was the character in three dimensions that Howard’s artist had portrayed in two dimensions,” the actor notes. “It was astounding.”
Another daily visitor to Berger’s trailer camp was English musical theatre star Cornell S. John, who plays Glenstorm, the powerful Afro-Narnian centaur who aids the Prince Caspian and the Pevensies in their fight against Miraz.
“For Glenstorm, Andrew wanted a tall and imposing actor of African descent,” casting director Stevens remembers. “Glenstorm is a wise, spiritual character who is also a great warrior, so he needed to move with grace and dignity. We did a global search that went as far afield as Africa and found Cornell in London. We had known and admired him in many leading roles in musical theatre and opera, from ‘The Lion King’ to ‘Porgy and Bess.’”
John endured a lengthy makeup process that transformed the actor into one of mythology’s quintessential creatures, the centaur—half-man and half-horse. Latex face appliances combined with green screen tights over which the VFX magicians superimposed the body and legs of a horse turned the soft-spoken actor into one of the film’s most imposing creations.
“I’m 160% Mike Fields, the guy who did my makeup,” John states. “In the beginning, I had no idea what I should look like. I was hoping for something that expressed honor, pride and tradition. Because centaurs can live for hundreds of years, there’s no age limit on this. I put myself at 170 Earth years. This face of Glenstorm is the face of time.”
And, as they did on the first film, KNB created life-sized animatronic puppets and suits for the CGI character of Aslan for use on the set during filming.
“Andrew wanted him to be 15 percent larger,” says Berger. “We were able to utilize the digital scanning information from the first film and have Cyber FX mill out a new sculpture 15 percent larger than the first. We ended up with a very large lion in the shop.”
The face of Reepicheep, the swashbuckling mouse, did not come from the brush of one of Berger’s talented artists. Instead, the rodent was born from the strokes of a keyboard mouse, through computer software under the control by VFX co-supervisor Wendy Rogers.
“I grew up on the Narnia books and Reepicheep was definitely one of my favorite characters,” director Adamson says of the gallant, honorable and noble mouse who wields “a tiny little rapier,” in author Lewis’ description of the character. “He was ingrained in my imagination. The trick here was finding the right voice. He was difficult to find, but we finally cast Eddie Izzard for the part.”
The filmmakers auditioned over 100 voices to find the right actor to bring the character to life, says producer Mark Johnson. “Eddie Izzard's voice came closest to the seriousness of the character and yet didn't in any way repel us or not let us have immediate affection for Reepicheep.”
Once the filmmakers chose Izzard, Rogers focused on physicalizing the character. “Reepicheep is a big mouse, some 22 inches tall,” Rogers explains. “That will take some suspension of disbelief. At that size, we still have to make him feel like he’s a mouse. We have to find the correct balance between anthropomorphizing Reepicheep and maintaining the fact that he is a real animal—a mouse.
“The voice actor plays such a big part in defining the character,” Rogers continues. “It’s not the fact that the animated character resembles the actor playing him. The actor may do some mannerisms or a physical flourish, like wave a sword. We have lipstick cams at these recording sessions to capture that. That helps our exploration of who the character is.”
Of all the Narnian characters London-based visual effects house The Moving Picture Company (MPC) had to create for PRINCE CASPIAN, Reepicheep was the one requiring the most art direction and overall attention to detail, says MPC’s Greg Butler. “One of the first challenges was that a very big mouse would be hard to keep looking ’mousey.’ We wanted to make sure Reepicheep didn’t end up looking like a rat. We also had to work out an anatomy that was based on a mouse, but still allowed him to sword-fight, wear armor, and walk on two as well as four legs.”
“This story is Reepicheep’s introduction,” says Adamson. “Dawn Treader will be his story. What we’ve done is establish him for the next Narnia adventure. I didn’t really get to exploit him like so many other characters. But he is so worthwhile and interesting.”
40 special makeup artists gave birth to the film’s more fantastical creatures
Berger and his award-winning makeup magicians had been waiting two years to return to Narnia. “We were chomping at the bit to go back for the next film and get a chance to revisit all the Narnian inhabitants we helped create for the first film,” Berger says.
Berger was eager to create the new, wilder look of the creatures of Narnia, who have been living in hiding for centuries when the film begins. “In PRINCE CASPIAN, we had heavy set fauns, old age fauns, female dwarves, African-Narnian centaurs and their families. The minotaurs are now on the side of good. We have a new hag, a werewolf and the Satyrs are back, but all redesigned to be more animal-like.”
The task would require a large staff of experts ranging from concept artists to creature-suit fabricators, from hair designers to latex piece manufacturers. “We estimated close to 3,000 makeups on the film, which would keep the foam department busy almost 24/7 for the next nine months. We ended up applying 4,600 makeups by the end of the shoot, which is, I believe, a world record,” Berger reports.
Howard Berger and a team of more than 40 special makeup artists gave birth to the film’s more fantastical creatures. “My favorite Narnians are the dwarves,” Berger says. “We had two fantastic dwarf characters in the film: Trumpkin, played by Peter Dinklage, and Nikabrik, played by Warwick Davis. We designed some very intricate makeup applications to transform them into Narnians.”
When the role of Trumpkin was being conceived, director Adamson knew that Dinklage was his first choice to play the role. “I knew when I saw The Station Agent that I wanted to cast him,” the filmmaker says.
“He's the first actor we cast for this movie,” exclaims Johnson about Dinklage. “He's just phenomenal.”
Once signed on, Dinklage turned to the books—which he did not read as a youth—for research and inspiration. He describes his character as “curmudgeonly,” but adds “too much of that and you’re not going to want to spend time with him on the journey. Let’s just say that the Pevensies annoy him, and he’d rather have a glass of wine back in his tree.”
Before agreeing to take the role, Dinklage caught a glimpse of what Trumpkin might look like when he visited with Adamson in Los Angeles for an introductory meeting. The filmmaker showed Dinklage some of the pre-visualization materials, “some computer animation of what appeared to be these big battle sequences,” the actor remembers.
“I sat there in this room filled with computers, and watched as my likeness came up in these computer images,” he continues. “I had never seen anything like that before. It was weird really, but I felt like I couldn't say no at that point.”
Even with this unexpected peek at Trumpkin’s appearance, Dinklage had no notion as to what Berger and his team would devise to transform the blue-eyed actor into a vivid Narnian creature. Berger and Tami Lane, who both earned Oscars® for the first movie, rendered him unrecognizable, except for his piercing eyes.
Working from a concept painting of what Berger envisioned for the character, Lane began the daily two-and-a-half-hour transformation by shaving Dinklage’s head completely and painting it. She dyed his eyebrows before gluing on latex face pieces. Finally the makeup artist tacked on the intricate hair work that turned Dinklage into a fantastical, otherworldly creature.
“The last thing was a really long red beard and wig made of yak hair,” Dinklage says. “And somewhere there's a yak on top of a mountain who's very cold. And I'm sorry. However, because we filmed in the summer in Prague, it was not the coolest of makeups for me.
“With a lot of makeups, you can lose the actor underneath them,” the actor continues. “Howard and Tami really managed to make me look completely different and still allowed my expressions, my emotions, to come through.”
“Peter brought so much life to the character,” says Berger. “I always say that a makeup is half successful if we do our jobs right. That, plus the performance, made Trumpkin truly alive and believable. We gave Trumpkin his look. Peter gave him his heart.”
Berger was eager to create the new, wilder look of the creatures of Narnia, who have been living in hiding for centuries when the film begins. “In PRINCE CASPIAN, we had heavy set fauns, old age fauns, female dwarves, African-Narnian centaurs and their families. The minotaurs are now on the side of good. We have a new hag, a werewolf and the Satyrs are back, but all redesigned to be more animal-like.”
The task would require a large staff of experts ranging from concept artists to creature-suit fabricators, from hair designers to latex piece manufacturers. “We estimated close to 3,000 makeups on the film, which would keep the foam department busy almost 24/7 for the next nine months. We ended up applying 4,600 makeups by the end of the shoot, which is, I believe, a world record,” Berger reports.
Howard Berger and a team of more than 40 special makeup artists gave birth to the film’s more fantastical creatures. “My favorite Narnians are the dwarves,” Berger says. “We had two fantastic dwarf characters in the film: Trumpkin, played by Peter Dinklage, and Nikabrik, played by Warwick Davis. We designed some very intricate makeup applications to transform them into Narnians.”
When the role of Trumpkin was being conceived, director Adamson knew that Dinklage was his first choice to play the role. “I knew when I saw The Station Agent that I wanted to cast him,” the filmmaker says.
“He's the first actor we cast for this movie,” exclaims Johnson about Dinklage. “He's just phenomenal.”
Once signed on, Dinklage turned to the books—which he did not read as a youth—for research and inspiration. He describes his character as “curmudgeonly,” but adds “too much of that and you’re not going to want to spend time with him on the journey. Let’s just say that the Pevensies annoy him, and he’d rather have a glass of wine back in his tree.”
Before agreeing to take the role, Dinklage caught a glimpse of what Trumpkin might look like when he visited with Adamson in Los Angeles for an introductory meeting. The filmmaker showed Dinklage some of the pre-visualization materials, “some computer animation of what appeared to be these big battle sequences,” the actor remembers.
“I sat there in this room filled with computers, and watched as my likeness came up in these computer images,” he continues. “I had never seen anything like that before. It was weird really, but I felt like I couldn't say no at that point.”
Even with this unexpected peek at Trumpkin’s appearance, Dinklage had no notion as to what Berger and his team would devise to transform the blue-eyed actor into a vivid Narnian creature. Berger and Tami Lane, who both earned Oscars® for the first movie, rendered him unrecognizable, except for his piercing eyes.
Working from a concept painting of what Berger envisioned for the character, Lane began the daily two-and-a-half-hour transformation by shaving Dinklage’s head completely and painting it. She dyed his eyebrows before gluing on latex face pieces. Finally the makeup artist tacked on the intricate hair work that turned Dinklage into a fantastical, otherworldly creature.
“The last thing was a really long red beard and wig made of yak hair,” Dinklage says. “And somewhere there's a yak on top of a mountain who's very cold. And I'm sorry. However, because we filmed in the summer in Prague, it was not the coolest of makeups for me.
“With a lot of makeups, you can lose the actor underneath them,” the actor continues. “Howard and Tami really managed to make me look completely different and still allowed my expressions, my emotions, to come through.”
“Peter brought so much life to the character,” says Berger. “I always say that a makeup is half successful if we do our jobs right. That, plus the performance, made Trumpkin truly alive and believable. We gave Trumpkin his look. Peter gave him his heart.”
Ben Barnes as the film’s title character, and Italian movie star Sergio Castellitto
The characters battling for control of the vastly altered Narnia are played by two new faces on the Hollywood movie scene—the young, charismatic British stage actor Ben Barnes as the film’s title character, and seasoned Italian movie star Sergio Castellitto, who embodies pure evil as King Miraz.
Barnes was no stranger to the C.S. Lewis literary series. “I was a massive Narnia fan as a kid,” Barnes exclaims with the exuberance of an eight-year-old boy delving into the novels for the first time. “I definitely remember the books being a big part of my childhood. When I found out I got the part, I looked through my bookshelves and found this copy of Prince Caspian with 1989 copyright, when I was eight.”
“We took a long time to find Ben and saw many actors for this role,” Johnson says. “We needed a young man who could be heroic, but who also had something in his personality that reflected what the character learns through the journey in this film.”
English casting veteran Gail Stevens had an assistant who had seen Barnes in the recent West End staging of the award-winning drama, “The History Boys.” When she contacted his agent, the actor taped an audition reading for Adamson.
That video introduction led to a personal audition where the director crowned him the star of his new movie. “When we finally met Ben in person, we found him charming and fun and comfortable. He won us over,” Adamson recalls. “You could see from his effort and enthusiasm how much he wanted the role. I admired his work ethic.”
Barnes’ whirlwind adventure began almost immediately. Costume fittings, horseback riding practice, dialect lessons, fencing and stunt rehearsals consumed his early days and weeks on location in New Zealand.
In addition to immersing himself in the role, he also had to find a place for himself in a tight-knit film family. All four Pevensies were anxious to meet Barnes and see how he would fit in when he first arrived in New Zealand
“He became an honorary Pevensie,” jokes Keynes. “And the fact that he was 25 when we made the movie made everyone else act a bit more mature.”
“Ben had a lot to live up to before we'd even met him,” says Popplewell. “Especially for William and me, because we knew that we were not in the next story. We were, in a sense, passing the films onto someone whom we really liked. He had that something that we very much connected with.”
Before he meets the Pevensies in Narnia, Caspian is rallying support among the Narnians for a campaign against his own people, the Telmarines. “They’re trying to kill him,” Barnes explains. “I blow the magic horn and summon the Pevensies back to Narnia. Peter, as the High King, rightfully assumes that he’s in charge. We both have different ideas about how we should go about defeating my evil uncle, which leads to this conflict between us.
“Even though the story takes place in a fantasy world, you have to play every moment as truth,” says Barnes. “I hope those moments translate into something that the audience can really become involved with. If so, they will get behind Caspian and see him through from the beginning to the end of his journey.”
“The adult characters are much more scary in this film,” says Moseley. “The White Witch was scary, but you've seen nothing until you've seen Miraz. I fought both of them one-on-one, and Miraz took my breath away. It was really interesting watching Sergio change into Miraz. He takes on a whole new persona!”
During the casting process for the evil Miraz, the filmmakers were immediately intrigued with Castellitto. “Sergio is one of the most accomplished and well-regarded European actors around today,” says producer Johnson about his screen villain. “As soon as we saw his audition tape, we said, ‘Let’s explore this further.’ ”
Castellitto’s lengthy acting resume includes some of Italy’s best known movies over the last quarter century. He is well-known for roles in Luc Besson’s “The Big Blue,” and Best Foreign Film Oscar® nominees from Italy such as “La Familia,” and “L’Uomo delle stele.”
“I have a lot of admiration for Andrew Adamson because he pays attention to the psychological aspect of the performance and character,” Castellitto says. “We spoke about the character as a human being. We spoke about the battle between youth and age. The good and evil is evident in that dichotomy between Miraz and Caspian.”
Once actor and director had established Miraz’s psychological profile, they next turned to his physicality. The physical look of the film’s human cast fell to a team of makeup magicians led by two-time Academy Award® nominee Paul Engelen (“Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan,” “Lord of the Apes,” “Casino Royale”) and hair designer Kevin Alexander (“Casino Royale”).
Engelen, a 40-year industry veteran with one of his craft’s best professional resumes, in collaboration with Adamson, created a Mediterranean look for the Telmarine characters. The longtime makeup artist felt immediately that Miraz should have some kind of beard. “The character of Miraz demanded that he be very forceful and intimidating for the part to succeed, and I very soon arrived at the triangular design we decided to use,” Engelen says. “I enlarged the chin area with an extension piece. With the addition of extended eyebrows, some darker color in and around the eyes, and the character’s trademark earring, we ended up with a good character look for Sergio.”
Add to this a wardrobe that costumer Mussenden describes as “a bit pirate, barbaric in character, but sophisticated in style and all inspired by images of 15th century Spanish soldiers,” plus Weta’s magnificent armor and weapons, and Miraz came to vivid and terrifying life.
Barnes was no stranger to the C.S. Lewis literary series. “I was a massive Narnia fan as a kid,” Barnes exclaims with the exuberance of an eight-year-old boy delving into the novels for the first time. “I definitely remember the books being a big part of my childhood. When I found out I got the part, I looked through my bookshelves and found this copy of Prince Caspian with 1989 copyright, when I was eight.”
“We took a long time to find Ben and saw many actors for this role,” Johnson says. “We needed a young man who could be heroic, but who also had something in his personality that reflected what the character learns through the journey in this film.”
English casting veteran Gail Stevens had an assistant who had seen Barnes in the recent West End staging of the award-winning drama, “The History Boys.” When she contacted his agent, the actor taped an audition reading for Adamson.
That video introduction led to a personal audition where the director crowned him the star of his new movie. “When we finally met Ben in person, we found him charming and fun and comfortable. He won us over,” Adamson recalls. “You could see from his effort and enthusiasm how much he wanted the role. I admired his work ethic.”
Barnes’ whirlwind adventure began almost immediately. Costume fittings, horseback riding practice, dialect lessons, fencing and stunt rehearsals consumed his early days and weeks on location in New Zealand.
In addition to immersing himself in the role, he also had to find a place for himself in a tight-knit film family. All four Pevensies were anxious to meet Barnes and see how he would fit in when he first arrived in New Zealand
“He became an honorary Pevensie,” jokes Keynes. “And the fact that he was 25 when we made the movie made everyone else act a bit more mature.”
“Ben had a lot to live up to before we'd even met him,” says Popplewell. “Especially for William and me, because we knew that we were not in the next story. We were, in a sense, passing the films onto someone whom we really liked. He had that something that we very much connected with.”
Before he meets the Pevensies in Narnia, Caspian is rallying support among the Narnians for a campaign against his own people, the Telmarines. “They’re trying to kill him,” Barnes explains. “I blow the magic horn and summon the Pevensies back to Narnia. Peter, as the High King, rightfully assumes that he’s in charge. We both have different ideas about how we should go about defeating my evil uncle, which leads to this conflict between us.
“Even though the story takes place in a fantasy world, you have to play every moment as truth,” says Barnes. “I hope those moments translate into something that the audience can really become involved with. If so, they will get behind Caspian and see him through from the beginning to the end of his journey.”
“The adult characters are much more scary in this film,” says Moseley. “The White Witch was scary, but you've seen nothing until you've seen Miraz. I fought both of them one-on-one, and Miraz took my breath away. It was really interesting watching Sergio change into Miraz. He takes on a whole new persona!”
During the casting process for the evil Miraz, the filmmakers were immediately intrigued with Castellitto. “Sergio is one of the most accomplished and well-regarded European actors around today,” says producer Johnson about his screen villain. “As soon as we saw his audition tape, we said, ‘Let’s explore this further.’ ”
Castellitto’s lengthy acting resume includes some of Italy’s best known movies over the last quarter century. He is well-known for roles in Luc Besson’s “The Big Blue,” and Best Foreign Film Oscar® nominees from Italy such as “La Familia,” and “L’Uomo delle stele.”
“I have a lot of admiration for Andrew Adamson because he pays attention to the psychological aspect of the performance and character,” Castellitto says. “We spoke about the character as a human being. We spoke about the battle between youth and age. The good and evil is evident in that dichotomy between Miraz and Caspian.”
Once actor and director had established Miraz’s psychological profile, they next turned to his physicality. The physical look of the film’s human cast fell to a team of makeup magicians led by two-time Academy Award® nominee Paul Engelen (“Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan,” “Lord of the Apes,” “Casino Royale”) and hair designer Kevin Alexander (“Casino Royale”).
Engelen, a 40-year industry veteran with one of his craft’s best professional resumes, in collaboration with Adamson, created a Mediterranean look for the Telmarine characters. The longtime makeup artist felt immediately that Miraz should have some kind of beard. “The character of Miraz demanded that he be very forceful and intimidating for the part to succeed, and I very soon arrived at the triangular design we decided to use,” Engelen says. “I enlarged the chin area with an extension piece. With the addition of extended eyebrows, some darker color in and around the eyes, and the character’s trademark earring, we ended up with a good character look for Sergio.”
Add to this a wardrobe that costumer Mussenden describes as “a bit pirate, barbaric in character, but sophisticated in style and all inspired by images of 15th century Spanish soldiers,” plus Weta’s magnificent armor and weapons, and Miraz came to vivid and terrifying life.
Narnia is almost our complete imagination
Co-star Georgie Henley has grown into a bright and studious 12-year-old who has written two of her own stories, The Snow Stag and A Pillar of Secrets.
About Lewis’ imaginary world, its story and its characters, Henley says, “They're just brilliant because of the way C.S. Lewis wrote them. He didn't put too much description in, so Narnia is almost our complete imagination. We can interpret it however we like. I think that most people have their own interpretation of these books and these characters.”
Henley acknowledges two changes in her character in the second film. “In the last film, I was sweet little Lucy, and now I’m a bit more actiony, which was quite fun,”
she says, adding that she spent time learning to ride a horse and wield a dagger for her role. “Also, Lucy stands up for what she believes in more than in the last film—her faith in Aslan. She’s braver and she has her own view about what she thinks is right. She sees Aslan before her siblings do, which I think shows Lucy’s trust in Aslan more than the others.”
Producer Mark Johnson describes Lucy Pevensie’s dilemma as a fundamental question of faith. “She’s asking ‘Who am I? What is the right thing to do?’ Her conscience dictated a lot of what she did on the last film. In this one, it’s put to some pretty severe tests.”
Skandar Keynes, who plays Edmund, was 12 when he started shooting the first movie. By the end of PRINCE CASPIAN, he had turned 16. Despite his being five years younger than his co-star Moseley, Keynes sees his character as taking the role of the older brother in his relationship with the elder sibling Peter this time out.
“Edmund is always looking out for Peter,” says the young actor. “He always helps him, but never gets the credit he deserves and that gets to him a bit. It’s one of the recurring themes—how Edmund’s always helping Peter out. You know, there was even a day on the call sheet where the scene description was ‘Edmund saves the day.’ I didn’t let anyone forget it. I walked around with a call sheet in my hands all day saying, ‘Edmund saves the day’. That was really cool.”
Co-star Moseley believes moviegoers will see the Pevensies in a new light in PRINCE CASPIAN. “Peter and Susan especially. These two had challenges in the first film, but nothing on this level. I think audiences will be surprised and engaged by both the physical battles and the emotional battles endured by our characters.”
"They've all grown up really well,” Director Adamson says, sounding like a proud parent of the young actors portraying the Pevensie clan. “A large reason for me to do this again was working with the same children. There is this wonderful relationship between the kids, how they became a family and how they let us become a part of that family. There's change in very positive ways in growing up, but I'd like to say the movie didn’t change who they are, which I'm really happy about.”
About Lewis’ imaginary world, its story and its characters, Henley says, “They're just brilliant because of the way C.S. Lewis wrote them. He didn't put too much description in, so Narnia is almost our complete imagination. We can interpret it however we like. I think that most people have their own interpretation of these books and these characters.”
Henley acknowledges two changes in her character in the second film. “In the last film, I was sweet little Lucy, and now I’m a bit more actiony, which was quite fun,”
she says, adding that she spent time learning to ride a horse and wield a dagger for her role. “Also, Lucy stands up for what she believes in more than in the last film—her faith in Aslan. She’s braver and she has her own view about what she thinks is right. She sees Aslan before her siblings do, which I think shows Lucy’s trust in Aslan more than the others.”
Producer Mark Johnson describes Lucy Pevensie’s dilemma as a fundamental question of faith. “She’s asking ‘Who am I? What is the right thing to do?’ Her conscience dictated a lot of what she did on the last film. In this one, it’s put to some pretty severe tests.”
Skandar Keynes, who plays Edmund, was 12 when he started shooting the first movie. By the end of PRINCE CASPIAN, he had turned 16. Despite his being five years younger than his co-star Moseley, Keynes sees his character as taking the role of the older brother in his relationship with the elder sibling Peter this time out.
“Edmund is always looking out for Peter,” says the young actor. “He always helps him, but never gets the credit he deserves and that gets to him a bit. It’s one of the recurring themes—how Edmund’s always helping Peter out. You know, there was even a day on the call sheet where the scene description was ‘Edmund saves the day.’ I didn’t let anyone forget it. I walked around with a call sheet in my hands all day saying, ‘Edmund saves the day’. That was really cool.”
Co-star Moseley believes moviegoers will see the Pevensies in a new light in PRINCE CASPIAN. “Peter and Susan especially. These two had challenges in the first film, but nothing on this level. I think audiences will be surprised and engaged by both the physical battles and the emotional battles endured by our characters.”
"They've all grown up really well,” Director Adamson says, sounding like a proud parent of the young actors portraying the Pevensie clan. “A large reason for me to do this again was working with the same children. There is this wonderful relationship between the kids, how they became a family and how they let us become a part of that family. There's change in very positive ways in growing up, but I'd like to say the movie didn’t change who they are, which I'm really happy about.”
The film marks the end of Narnia’s road for the eldest Pevensies, Susan and Peter
“It’s a wonderfully nostalgic story,” adds Adamson. “Basically the children have come back to a place that they’ve longed to be, the place they ruled for 15 years. Everything has changed. Cair Paravel is in ruins. The people they know have been driven into the wild. Aslan hasn’t been seen for a thousand years. They’ve got to come to terms with that, and at the same time, try to restore Narnia as they know it.”
That theme intrigued the screenwriters as well. “It’s an area Lewis left mostly untouched,” offers screenwriter Markus. “Lewis memorably examined what it would be like for a 1940s school kid to become King of Narnia. However, he didn’t much consider what it would be like for a King of Narnia to return to being a 1940s school kid.”
“Their year back in London must have been awkward at best,” adds writing partner McFeely. “Given their different personalities, each Pevensie handles the situation with varying levels of success. Their sudden return to Narnia pushes different buttons in each.”
And, how do the experiences of the four young British actors compare to what their screen counterparts encountered in the new story?
The eldest of the foursome, 21-year-old William Moseley, says his anticipation and anxiety to get back in front of the movie cameras echoed what his character Peter endured in the time between his fifteen-year reign of Narnia and his return to the kingdom in the new story. Just like his character, the handsome British native returned to secondary school.
“Finishing the first film was an amazing experience,” he says. “Then it was all taken away. Even though I didn’t react the same way Peter does, I can really understand how he feels.”
Once the senior sibling returns to Narnia, “he becomes slightly arrogant,” the actor notes of his character. “There's fighting within the group. Peter cannot accept Caspian. His plans are not set from his heart, but from his ego. Even when he doubts himself, he still is too stubborn to back down and accept that he might be wrong. And ultimately, he pays the highest price.
In the process, Moseley says, his character becomes a man. “When he gets back to Narnia, it’s 1,300 years later and people don't know he's a high king. They just see a boy. Peter has to prove who he is to the Narnians.”
“When we cast William as Peter, he was just 15 and had never done anything like this before,” Adamson notes. “William’s transformation was not dissimilar to that of his character Peter in the story, from this 17-year-old boy into a young man. I don’t think he’d even been on a movie set before. He was just this really great kid you wanted to be your big brother. And now, William has turned out to be a handsome and capable young man.”
Adds co-star Anna Popplewell, “Although William is 21, he's playing a 16- or 17-year- old. But he's an adult now. I had my first audition with him when I was 13. And we really have sort of grown up together. Everyone has grown up a little bit, and changed a little bit,” she observes.
However, Popplewell did notice how the character of Susan had changed when she read through the script. “Susan gets to be involved in a bit more action this time,” the actress enthuses. “I loved doing the fighting scenes. I loved being in the raid and the battle and getting my teeth into some of the stunts. I didn’t get to do much of that in the first movie.”
The film marks the end of Narnia’s road for the eldest Pevensies, Susan and Peter. Popplewell admits, “I feel incredibly lucky to have had this experience, a fantastic time. And I'd so much rather have been here than not been here. But, at the same time, it's really sad that I won't be coming back. ”
After finishing “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” Popplewell concentrated on her secondary school studies and landed a coveted spot at Oxford’s Magdalen College, the same school where author C.S. Lewis served a three decade tenure from 1925-54, although she did not know of Lewis’ longtime connection to the college until she read a biography of the famed author.
That theme intrigued the screenwriters as well. “It’s an area Lewis left mostly untouched,” offers screenwriter Markus. “Lewis memorably examined what it would be like for a 1940s school kid to become King of Narnia. However, he didn’t much consider what it would be like for a King of Narnia to return to being a 1940s school kid.”
“Their year back in London must have been awkward at best,” adds writing partner McFeely. “Given their different personalities, each Pevensie handles the situation with varying levels of success. Their sudden return to Narnia pushes different buttons in each.”
And, how do the experiences of the four young British actors compare to what their screen counterparts encountered in the new story?
The eldest of the foursome, 21-year-old William Moseley, says his anticipation and anxiety to get back in front of the movie cameras echoed what his character Peter endured in the time between his fifteen-year reign of Narnia and his return to the kingdom in the new story. Just like his character, the handsome British native returned to secondary school.
“Finishing the first film was an amazing experience,” he says. “Then it was all taken away. Even though I didn’t react the same way Peter does, I can really understand how he feels.”
Once the senior sibling returns to Narnia, “he becomes slightly arrogant,” the actor notes of his character. “There's fighting within the group. Peter cannot accept Caspian. His plans are not set from his heart, but from his ego. Even when he doubts himself, he still is too stubborn to back down and accept that he might be wrong. And ultimately, he pays the highest price.
In the process, Moseley says, his character becomes a man. “When he gets back to Narnia, it’s 1,300 years later and people don't know he's a high king. They just see a boy. Peter has to prove who he is to the Narnians.”
“When we cast William as Peter, he was just 15 and had never done anything like this before,” Adamson notes. “William’s transformation was not dissimilar to that of his character Peter in the story, from this 17-year-old boy into a young man. I don’t think he’d even been on a movie set before. He was just this really great kid you wanted to be your big brother. And now, William has turned out to be a handsome and capable young man.”
Adds co-star Anna Popplewell, “Although William is 21, he's playing a 16- or 17-year- old. But he's an adult now. I had my first audition with him when I was 13. And we really have sort of grown up together. Everyone has grown up a little bit, and changed a little bit,” she observes.
However, Popplewell did notice how the character of Susan had changed when she read through the script. “Susan gets to be involved in a bit more action this time,” the actress enthuses. “I loved doing the fighting scenes. I loved being in the raid and the battle and getting my teeth into some of the stunts. I didn’t get to do much of that in the first movie.”
The film marks the end of Narnia’s road for the eldest Pevensies, Susan and Peter. Popplewell admits, “I feel incredibly lucky to have had this experience, a fantastic time. And I'd so much rather have been here than not been here. But, at the same time, it's really sad that I won't be coming back. ”
After finishing “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” Popplewell concentrated on her secondary school studies and landed a coveted spot at Oxford’s Magdalen College, the same school where author C.S. Lewis served a three decade tenure from 1925-54, although she did not know of Lewis’ longtime connection to the college until she read a biography of the famed author.
PRINCE CASPIAN is a completely different story from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Producer Mark Johnson believes the second film has surpassed the original in many respects. “This movie is bigger than ‘The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,’” he says. “It’s bigger in terms of the number of people behind the camera. It’s bigger in terms of the number of people in front of the camera and, most importantly, it’s bigger dramatically. The themes that we’re playing out here, and the relationships, are much bigger and a bit darker than they were in the first film.”
Director Adamson explains: “PRINCE CASPIAN tells the story of Narnia 1,300 years after the Pevensies left. The Telmarines have taken over Narnia and driven all the creatures into the forest. Prince Caspian, the rightful heir to the throne, has been ousted by his uncle Miraz. Caspian blows Susan’s horn to bring the Pevensie children back to Narnia to save the land from Miraz, this unrightful king.”
The story reminds Johnson of the films he loved as a kid. “It harkens back to some of those movies that were full of adventure and swashbuckling and brave characters. We even have a castle and a moat! On top of that, it takes place in Narnia, so it involves C.S. Lewis’ imagination.”
Unlike the first movie, which deliberately started small and built to the epic battle scene, PRINCE CASPIAN starts big and gets even bigger. “We’ve seen that epic world now,” notes Adamson. “So, at the beginning of this movie, we had to start epic and then get more epic. We had a lot more exterior locations. We had castles and kingdoms created by a new race of men, the Telmarines. So there was this whole new world to design. Also, this film is probably a little darker and grittier than the last one, partly because the children are older, making the story more adult in nature.
“In the last film, I think we went to some pretty dark places,” he adds. “Aslan’s death, certainly, is one of the darkest moments in the film. I think this movie has the potential to be even more sinister. Miraz is potentially someone that we might actually see in real life, which makes him and the story that much darker.
“’The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,’ is a very emotional story about sacrifice and forgiveness,” Adamson says. “In some ways, this is a more personal story, a story of these kids returning to a place that they love, but that no longer exists. This is more about coming to adulthood, about growth and adventure.”
That idea resonated with the director on a personal level. Although born in New Zealand, Adamson spent his formative teen years in Papua New Guinea “which no longer exists as I remember it growing up. For me, it’s a similar experience for these four children as they venture back to Narnia, a world that is not the same as when they first went there.”
“When I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a child, I remember getting to the end of it and thinking, ‘well, hang on a sec’,” Adamson recalls. “These guys were kings and queens. They ruled Narnia for fifteen years. They fought battles. They won wars against giants and now they have to go back to school? I wanted to see what happened next.”
“PRINCE CASPIAN is a completely different story from ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,’” producer Johnson explains. “The children have adjusted to a varying degree to being British school kids again. All of a sudden, they’re brought back to Narnia because they are needed to help save the land once again.”
Director Adamson explains: “PRINCE CASPIAN tells the story of Narnia 1,300 years after the Pevensies left. The Telmarines have taken over Narnia and driven all the creatures into the forest. Prince Caspian, the rightful heir to the throne, has been ousted by his uncle Miraz. Caspian blows Susan’s horn to bring the Pevensie children back to Narnia to save the land from Miraz, this unrightful king.”
The story reminds Johnson of the films he loved as a kid. “It harkens back to some of those movies that were full of adventure and swashbuckling and brave characters. We even have a castle and a moat! On top of that, it takes place in Narnia, so it involves C.S. Lewis’ imagination.”
Unlike the first movie, which deliberately started small and built to the epic battle scene, PRINCE CASPIAN starts big and gets even bigger. “We’ve seen that epic world now,” notes Adamson. “So, at the beginning of this movie, we had to start epic and then get more epic. We had a lot more exterior locations. We had castles and kingdoms created by a new race of men, the Telmarines. So there was this whole new world to design. Also, this film is probably a little darker and grittier than the last one, partly because the children are older, making the story more adult in nature.
“In the last film, I think we went to some pretty dark places,” he adds. “Aslan’s death, certainly, is one of the darkest moments in the film. I think this movie has the potential to be even more sinister. Miraz is potentially someone that we might actually see in real life, which makes him and the story that much darker.
“’The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,’ is a very emotional story about sacrifice and forgiveness,” Adamson says. “In some ways, this is a more personal story, a story of these kids returning to a place that they love, but that no longer exists. This is more about coming to adulthood, about growth and adventure.”
That idea resonated with the director on a personal level. Although born in New Zealand, Adamson spent his formative teen years in Papua New Guinea “which no longer exists as I remember it growing up. For me, it’s a similar experience for these four children as they venture back to Narnia, a world that is not the same as when they first went there.”
“When I read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe as a child, I remember getting to the end of it and thinking, ‘well, hang on a sec’,” Adamson recalls. “These guys were kings and queens. They ruled Narnia for fifteen years. They fought battles. They won wars against giants and now they have to go back to school? I wanted to see what happened next.”
“PRINCE CASPIAN is a completely different story from ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,’” producer Johnson explains. “The children have adjusted to a varying degree to being British school kids again. All of a sudden, they’re brought back to Narnia because they are needed to help save the land once again.”
Prince Caspian is the second of Lewis' seven-book Chronicles of Narnia series
The enchanting characters of C.S. Lewis' timeless fantasy come to dazzling life again in THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN. This time out, the Pevensie siblings—Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy—are magically transported from World War II era England to Narnia through a tube station near London’s Trafalgar Square, embarking on a perilous new adventure and an even greater test of their faith and courage.
One year after the incredible events of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” the former Kings and Queens of Narnia find themselves back in that faraway realm, only to discover that more than 1,300 years have passed in Narnian time. During their absence, the Golden Age of Narnia has faded into legend. The land's magical talking animals and mythical creatures exist as little more than folk tales to the Telmarines, a race of humans led by the merciless Lord Miraz. The mighty lion Aslan has not been seen in a thousand years.
The four children have been summoned back to Narnia by Caspian, the young heir to the Telmarine throne, to combat his evil uncle Miraz. With the help of a crusty, valiant dwarf, Trumpkin, a courageous talking mouse named Reepicheep, and a mistrustful Black Dwarf, Nikabrik, they lead the Narnians on a remarkable journey to restore magic and glory to the land.
Prince Caspian is the second of Lewis' seven-book Chronicles of Narnia series, which includes The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, The Last Battle, and the story that launched the series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Published between 1950 and 1956 and long regarded as one of literature's most enduring and imaginative classics, Lewis' books have sold over 100,000,000 copies in more than 35 languages, making it one of the biggest book series the world over.
As the creative and artistic director of Lewis’ estate and the C.S. Lewis Company, Douglas Gresham (the son of Lewis’ wife, Joy Davidman Gresham, and her first husband, novelist W.L. Gresham) worked for over twenty years to bring Lewis’ books to the big screen. Following the resounding success of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” Gresham is embarking on what he calls “the second chapter in a lifelong dream.”
“I watched that dream come true when ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ exploded onto movie screens around the world in 2005,” Gresham exclaims. “I always expected the movie to be a delight and a joy to world audiences, but I have been somewhat humbled by its level of success.”
One year after the incredible events of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” the former Kings and Queens of Narnia find themselves back in that faraway realm, only to discover that more than 1,300 years have passed in Narnian time. During their absence, the Golden Age of Narnia has faded into legend. The land's magical talking animals and mythical creatures exist as little more than folk tales to the Telmarines, a race of humans led by the merciless Lord Miraz. The mighty lion Aslan has not been seen in a thousand years.
The four children have been summoned back to Narnia by Caspian, the young heir to the Telmarine throne, to combat his evil uncle Miraz. With the help of a crusty, valiant dwarf, Trumpkin, a courageous talking mouse named Reepicheep, and a mistrustful Black Dwarf, Nikabrik, they lead the Narnians on a remarkable journey to restore magic and glory to the land.
Prince Caspian is the second of Lewis' seven-book Chronicles of Narnia series, which includes The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Silver Chair, The Horse and His Boy, The Magician's Nephew, The Last Battle, and the story that launched the series, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Published between 1950 and 1956 and long regarded as one of literature's most enduring and imaginative classics, Lewis' books have sold over 100,000,000 copies in more than 35 languages, making it one of the biggest book series the world over.
As the creative and artistic director of Lewis’ estate and the C.S. Lewis Company, Douglas Gresham (the son of Lewis’ wife, Joy Davidman Gresham, and her first husband, novelist W.L. Gresham) worked for over twenty years to bring Lewis’ books to the big screen. Following the resounding success of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” Gresham is embarking on what he calls “the second chapter in a lifelong dream.”
“I watched that dream come true when ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ exploded onto movie screens around the world in 2005,” Gresham exclaims. “I always expected the movie to be a delight and a joy to world audiences, but I have been somewhat humbled by its level of success.”
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN began filming on February 12, 2007 for six weeks
The film’s international cast includes acclaimed Italian actor-director Sergio Castellitto (“The Big Blue,” “Mostly Martha,” “Don’t Move”) as the villainous King Miraz; fellow Italian performer Pierfrancesco Favino (“Night at the Museum,” “Romanzo Criminale”) as the leader of the Telmarine army, Gen. Glozelle; Mexican star Damián Alcázar (“Men with Guns,” “And Starring Pancho Villa As Himself”) as Lord Sopespian, another high-ranking soldier in Miraz’s army; Spanish actress Alicia Borrachero (“Periodistas,” TV’s “Hospital Central,” “Love in the Time of Cholera”) as Miraz’s loyal wife, Queen Pruniprismia; and veteran French-Flemish actor Vincent Grass (“Vatel,” “Ma Vie En Rose”) as the wise old sage, Doctor Cornelius.
Scottish actor Ken Stott (“Casanova,” “King Arthur,” “The Boxer”) lends his vocal talents to the CGI character of Trufflehunter, the faithful badger. Academy Award® nominee Liam Neeson (“Schindler’s List”) returns as the voice of Aslan the Lion, and veteran English comic Eddie Izzard (TV’s “The Riches”) voices Reepicheep, the swashbuckling mouse.
Inspired by Lewis' imaginative creations, the story's human cast will once again be complemented by a gallery of original creatures portrayed onscreen in the combined efforts of live-action and CGI animation under the supervision of returning visual effects co-supervisor and Oscar® nominee Dean Wright (“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” ”Titanic”), who will collaborate this time with VFX veteran and longtime Adamson ally Wendy Rogers (“Shrek,” “Flushed Away”).
The pair, who supervised over 1,600 CGI shots for the film, teamed with the movie magicians at London's Moving Picture Company (all five “Harry Potter” films, “Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit”), the Oscar®-winning Framestore-CFC (“Superman Returns,” “Children of Men,” all five “Harry Potter” films) and Weta Digital in New Zealand. Five-time Academy Award®-winning visualist Richard Taylor (“Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “King Kong”) and the wizards from his Weta Workshop designed the film's armour and weaponry for Narnia's new inhabitants, the Telmarines.
Oscar® winners Howard Berger, Gregory Nicotero and Tami Lane also return to design and apply the film's special makeup effects, manufacturing hundreds of creature prosthetics for many of the unique characters in the story. KNB EFX Group, Berger’s award-winning design house in Los Angeles, fabricated several full-scale animatronic suits for the story’s unique Narnian beasts, which include minotaurs, satyrs and centaurs.
Oscar®-nominated production designer Roger Ford (“Babe,” “Peter Pan,” “The Quiet American”), award-winning costume designer Isis Mussenden (“Shrek,” “Shrek 2”, “10 Items or Less”), film editor Sim Evan-Jones (“Shrek,” “Shrek 2”) and Grammy®-nominated composer Harry Gregson-Williams (“Shrek,” “Shrek 2,” “Flushed Away”) all repeat their roles from “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Karl Walter Lindenlaub, A.S.C., bvk, (“Independence Day,” “Stargate”) joins Adamson's technical team as director of photography.
In addition to its commercial success, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” also earned numerous awards including the Oscar® for Best Achievement in Makeup, as well as nominations for visual effects and sound; the British Academy (BAFTA) Award for Best Makeup, along with nominations for visual effects and costumes; Golden Globe® nominations for Best Movie Score and Alanis Morissette’s original song “Wunderkind;” and a pair of Grammy® nominations for score and Imogen Heap’s original composition “Can’t Take It In.”
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN began filming on February 12, 2007 for six weeks on both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, where locations again included Henderson Studios’ sound stages as well as brand new sites on the country’s alluring Coromandel Peninsula on the North Island. South Island locales included the isolated Haast River Valley bordering the Tasman Sea on the country’s verdant South Westland coast, and forests near Paradise Valley and Glenorchy outside of Queenstown.
After concluding the New Zealand portion of the schedule in late March, the company relocated to Eastern Europe and the legendary sound stages at Prague’s Barrandov and Modrany Studios. Key exterior locations in the Czech Republic included the Northern Bohemian city of Usti, the primary site of the film’s epic climactic battle, and locales in Poland and Slovenia.
Scottish actor Ken Stott (“Casanova,” “King Arthur,” “The Boxer”) lends his vocal talents to the CGI character of Trufflehunter, the faithful badger. Academy Award® nominee Liam Neeson (“Schindler’s List”) returns as the voice of Aslan the Lion, and veteran English comic Eddie Izzard (TV’s “The Riches”) voices Reepicheep, the swashbuckling mouse.
Inspired by Lewis' imaginative creations, the story's human cast will once again be complemented by a gallery of original creatures portrayed onscreen in the combined efforts of live-action and CGI animation under the supervision of returning visual effects co-supervisor and Oscar® nominee Dean Wright (“The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” ”Titanic”), who will collaborate this time with VFX veteran and longtime Adamson ally Wendy Rogers (“Shrek,” “Flushed Away”).
The pair, who supervised over 1,600 CGI shots for the film, teamed with the movie magicians at London's Moving Picture Company (all five “Harry Potter” films, “Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit”), the Oscar®-winning Framestore-CFC (“Superman Returns,” “Children of Men,” all five “Harry Potter” films) and Weta Digital in New Zealand. Five-time Academy Award®-winning visualist Richard Taylor (“Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “King Kong”) and the wizards from his Weta Workshop designed the film's armour and weaponry for Narnia's new inhabitants, the Telmarines.
Oscar® winners Howard Berger, Gregory Nicotero and Tami Lane also return to design and apply the film's special makeup effects, manufacturing hundreds of creature prosthetics for many of the unique characters in the story. KNB EFX Group, Berger’s award-winning design house in Los Angeles, fabricated several full-scale animatronic suits for the story’s unique Narnian beasts, which include minotaurs, satyrs and centaurs.
Oscar®-nominated production designer Roger Ford (“Babe,” “Peter Pan,” “The Quiet American”), award-winning costume designer Isis Mussenden (“Shrek,” “Shrek 2”, “10 Items or Less”), film editor Sim Evan-Jones (“Shrek,” “Shrek 2”) and Grammy®-nominated composer Harry Gregson-Williams (“Shrek,” “Shrek 2,” “Flushed Away”) all repeat their roles from “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Karl Walter Lindenlaub, A.S.C., bvk, (“Independence Day,” “Stargate”) joins Adamson's technical team as director of photography.
In addition to its commercial success, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” also earned numerous awards including the Oscar® for Best Achievement in Makeup, as well as nominations for visual effects and sound; the British Academy (BAFTA) Award for Best Makeup, along with nominations for visual effects and costumes; Golden Globe® nominations for Best Movie Score and Alanis Morissette’s original song “Wunderkind;” and a pair of Grammy® nominations for score and Imogen Heap’s original composition “Can’t Take It In.”
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN began filming on February 12, 2007 for six weeks on both the North and South Islands of New Zealand, where locations again included Henderson Studios’ sound stages as well as brand new sites on the country’s alluring Coromandel Peninsula on the North Island. South Island locales included the isolated Haast River Valley bordering the Tasman Sea on the country’s verdant South Westland coast, and forests near Paradise Valley and Glenorchy outside of Queenstown.
After concluding the New Zealand portion of the schedule in late March, the company relocated to Eastern Europe and the legendary sound stages at Prague’s Barrandov and Modrany Studios. Key exterior locations in the Czech Republic included the Northern Bohemian city of Usti, the primary site of the film’s epic climactic battle, and locales in Poland and Slovenia.
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the second motion picture
The wardrobe is gone...the White Witch is dead...and Aslan has been missing for over a thousand years.
Now, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie are beckoned back to Narnia to find a vastly different world, where a new enemy stalks the battlefield and the land’s kindly creatures find themselves on the brink of extinction.
Walt Disney Studios and Walden Media present THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN, the second motion picture based on C.S. Lewis' beloved series of literary classics. The film continues the spectacular story that began with the Oscar®-winning 2005 release, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” which earned over $745 million dollars in its worldwide theatrical release, making it one of the most successful movies ever made, and one of the biggest successes in the annals of the Walt Disney Studios.
Acclaimed director Andrew Adamson (the Oscar®-winning “Shrek,” “Shrek 2”) embarks on his second Narnian film adventure from a screenplay he co-wrote with Emmy® Award-winning writing partners Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (HBO's “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers”), who also co-scripted the first film. Adamson also reunites with the producers of the first Narnia movie—Academy Award®-winner Mark Johnson (“Rain Man,” “Bugsy,” “The Notebook”) and Philip Steuer (“The Rookie,” “The Alamo”). Also reprising their roles are executive producer and former Walden Media executive Perry Moore and co-producer Douglas Gresham, author Lewis’ stepson.
Once again toplining as the Pevensie children are the four young British talents discovered by Adamson for the first film: 12-year-old Georgie Henley as Lucy, the youngest and the first to encounter the great Aslan on their new journey through Narnia; 16-year-old Skandar Keynes as Edmund, the younger boy who betrayed his siblings for his own selfish gain in the first adventure; 19-year-old Anna Popplewell as Susan, the cautious and practical older sister; and 21-year-old William Moseley as Peter, the eldest of the siblings and now High King of Narnia who valiantly leads the battle to save his realm from the tyrannical reign of the evil King Miraz.
The film's title character is played by Ben Barnes, a 26-year-old British stage actor best known for his role in the drama "The History Boys" for London's National Theatre Company, the first West End staging of Alan Bennett’s award-winning play. He recently completed the film adaptation of Noel Coward’s “Easy Virtue” opposite Jessica Biel and Colin Firth, starred in the independent feature “Bigga Than Ben” and had a featured role in Matthew Vaughn's fantasy film “Stardust.”
Also co-starring in the new film are Peter Dinklage (“The Station Agent,” “Death at a Funeral,” “Elf”) as Trumpkin the Red Dwarf, who accompanies the Pevensie children on their new journey; and Warwick Davis (“Willow,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” “Return of the Jedi”) as the suspicious Black Dwarf, Nikabrik.
Veteran Kiwi actor Shane Rangi (“Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”) plays Asterius, the aging minotaur, and British musical theatre star Cornell S. John (Sir Trevor Nunn’s “Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess,” Julie Taymor’s “The Lion King”) is Glenstorm, the leader of the centaurs.
Now, Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy Pevensie are beckoned back to Narnia to find a vastly different world, where a new enemy stalks the battlefield and the land’s kindly creatures find themselves on the brink of extinction.
Walt Disney Studios and Walden Media present THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN, the second motion picture based on C.S. Lewis' beloved series of literary classics. The film continues the spectacular story that began with the Oscar®-winning 2005 release, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” which earned over $745 million dollars in its worldwide theatrical release, making it one of the most successful movies ever made, and one of the biggest successes in the annals of the Walt Disney Studios.
Acclaimed director Andrew Adamson (the Oscar®-winning “Shrek,” “Shrek 2”) embarks on his second Narnian film adventure from a screenplay he co-wrote with Emmy® Award-winning writing partners Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (HBO's “The Life and Death of Peter Sellers”), who also co-scripted the first film. Adamson also reunites with the producers of the first Narnia movie—Academy Award®-winner Mark Johnson (“Rain Man,” “Bugsy,” “The Notebook”) and Philip Steuer (“The Rookie,” “The Alamo”). Also reprising their roles are executive producer and former Walden Media executive Perry Moore and co-producer Douglas Gresham, author Lewis’ stepson.
Once again toplining as the Pevensie children are the four young British talents discovered by Adamson for the first film: 12-year-old Georgie Henley as Lucy, the youngest and the first to encounter the great Aslan on their new journey through Narnia; 16-year-old Skandar Keynes as Edmund, the younger boy who betrayed his siblings for his own selfish gain in the first adventure; 19-year-old Anna Popplewell as Susan, the cautious and practical older sister; and 21-year-old William Moseley as Peter, the eldest of the siblings and now High King of Narnia who valiantly leads the battle to save his realm from the tyrannical reign of the evil King Miraz.
The film's title character is played by Ben Barnes, a 26-year-old British stage actor best known for his role in the drama "The History Boys" for London's National Theatre Company, the first West End staging of Alan Bennett’s award-winning play. He recently completed the film adaptation of Noel Coward’s “Easy Virtue” opposite Jessica Biel and Colin Firth, starred in the independent feature “Bigga Than Ben” and had a featured role in Matthew Vaughn's fantasy film “Stardust.”
Also co-starring in the new film are Peter Dinklage (“The Station Agent,” “Death at a Funeral,” “Elf”) as Trumpkin the Red Dwarf, who accompanies the Pevensie children on their new journey; and Warwick Davis (“Willow,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” “Return of the Jedi”) as the suspicious Black Dwarf, Nikabrik.
Veteran Kiwi actor Shane Rangi (“Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe”) plays Asterius, the aging minotaur, and British musical theatre star Cornell S. John (Sir Trevor Nunn’s “Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess,” Julie Taymor’s “The Lion King”) is Glenstorm, the leader of the centaurs.
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