Film premieres in London have long been the exclusive preserve of studio executives and their guests, the 1,600 chosen few who could cram into the capital’s largest cinema, the Odeon Leicester Square. Now a Hollywood studio is throwing open its doors to the public, enabling as many as 10,000 fans to walk up the red carpet at the biggest movie premiere in Britain.

Walt Disney Pictures is turning the O2 arena in Greenwich into what it describes as “the largest cinema in history” for its latest blockbuster, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Not so long ago the O2 was the much-mocked Millennium Dome, a vast empty shell on a desolate peninsula in East London. Now it has become the nation’s most popular music entertainment venue, attracting artists including the Eagles, Kylie Minogue, Led Zeppelin and Céline Dion.

If Disney’s premiere on June 19 – before the film’s general release on June 26 – is a success, the O2 could become a regular movie venue. The arena has been specially adapted with a delayed surround system to offer an “unparalleled audio-visual experience”, the organisers said.

For £12.50 a ticket, the public will be able to join the film’s cast, including Ben Barnes, the young British actor who plays Prince Caspian, and Liam Neeson, the Oscar-nominated Irish star who voices Aslan the lion, as well as the director Andrew Adamson, who also made the Oscar-winning Shrek.

Proceeds from the ticket sales will go to Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity, for whose redevelopment appeal Disney is raising millions of pounds.

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We’re getting to the home stretch of the interview series from Day 2. This one features Anna Popplewell, who played the role of Susan Pevensie in both Narnia films, and Peter Dinklage, who played the role of Trumpkin. There are some spoilers in this interview, so if you’re still avoiding those, then tread carefully. Otherwise, have fun. It was another great interview. At the end, learn who is next in the interview series.

All of us: Hi!

Anna Popplewell: Hi!

Peter Dinklage: Hi!

Reporter: So what’d you guys think of the film, last night?

Peter Dinklage: Umm..
(laughter)

Reporter: It was your first time seeing it, right?

Peter Dinklage: Yeah, it was great. I just.. I have no perspective on it, my wheels are still turning, and I have to see it again to sort of watch it with a clearer head.

Anna Popplewell: Yeah, I feel a bit speechless about it. I was very excited and nervous to see it, and I need to see it again so that I can watch it without thinking ‘oh but this day we were here and then we were over there’ and watch it as a movie rather than making so many connections. But I was really pleased with it.. I was really excited by it.

Reporter: Peter, what was it like being welcomed into the Narnia family?

Peter Dinklage: They welcomed me with big open arms. It’s great working with a bunch of people, like these guys and Andrew and some of the producers and one of the effects people had worked on the first movie. So they already have a built in relationship that you sort of walk into, which was sort of… you get passed the meet and greet stage. A lot of the times on a movie, for an actor, you sort of meet somebody and five seconds later you’re doing a love scene with them, and it’s so disorienting and crazy but it happens. But for this movie, for people that hadn’t been a part of the first one, felt like you were walking into a whole world that had already been created. And relationships. And they really welcomed myself and Ben and anybody else who had not been on the first movie.

Reporter: I’m wondering if they kinda had any traditions set up or ways they spent their down time that might have struck you as a little odd at first.

Anna Popplewell: We’re very eccentric people.

Peter Dinklage: They’re very eccentric. They stay in one trailer together. They have these pamphlets they’re always trying to convert us to (Anna Popplewell: Yeah, it’s more of a cult, really.) some sort of cult thing: The Pevensie Way. (laughter) They would chant on lunch breaks, it was creepy, but uh… what was the question?

(laughter)

Reporter: You’re answer is good enough, thank you.

Peter Dinklage: Okay.

Reporter: Anna, Peter, are there any particular messages you wanted your character to convey?

Peter Dinklage: Wow, uh..

Anna Popplewell: I don’t know, I think… people often… I think from the first film, Susan is kind of not very likable because she’s always the one saying ‘well hold on a minute, this doesn’t make sense.’ And I think that a lot of people forget that actually, if you’re treating it at all realistically, and you’re plunged into the world of Narnia, then someone is gonna stand up and say ‘well hang on a minute.’ And she’s kept that element this time around. She’s still asking questions and posing problems, but I think she’s a lot more human this time, so I wanted people to be a little bit more sympathetic and kind of see where she’s coming from.

Reporter: She’s also a bit more of a warrior princess in this one, too!

Peter Dinklage: She kicks..

Anna Popplewell: Yeah, yeah. We were talking about the death count after we saw the movie last night, and you know it’s a PG film so you don’t see a lot of people dying and you don’t see a lot of blood, but I think I probably win the death count. I mean, Will kills a lot of people in the night raid, but they’re on his own side, so that counts negatively.

Peter Dinklage: So death count’s important to you!

Anna Popplewell: Yeah.

Peter Dinklage: Sorry..

(laughter)

Peter Dinklage: Death is.. killing is good to..

Anna Popplewell: Maybe not killing, but the whole…yeah.

Peter Dinklage: Yeah..

Anna Popplewell: Yeah

Peter Dinklage: Good.

Anna Popplewell: But, yeah, I was really… I really enjoyed being part of the action sequences this time around, because it wasn’t something I got to do last time, and it was fun to be involved in that.

Reporter: What about you, Peter, what did you feel that your role conveyed? You have a very strong character.

Peter Dinklage: Healthy cynicism. A little bit of comedy. I think in this world of wonderment and exploration, it’s important to have somebody who’s like ‘I don’t want to do that.’ You know, like ‘I want to go eat a sandwich!’ You know, just somebody who kind of.. for a Narnian it’s weird to be the character that sort of roots it in reality, cause it’s sort of an oxymoron, if you will, right. I just, sort of, love that disgruntled hero, if I can call Trumpkin a hero. Yes.(to Anna) I save you, don’t I?

(laughter)

Reporter: Anna, how was the kiss with Ben? Was there a lot of practice?

Anna Popplewell: Umm, there was no practice, whatsoever. We filmed it right at the end of the shoot, so we did it after we’d known each other for five months already. And it just felt like, okay, this is something that we’re gonna do on set.

Peter Dinklage: That’s not what Ben said. Ben was looking forward to that a long time!

(laughter)

Anna Popplewell: I thought it was gonna be really awkward and it wasn’t at all, so it was fine.

Reporter: Did you have any extra archery training on this one because of the extended battle sequences you had to be in?

Anna Popplewell: Yeah, I had some more of that. I mean, I’m not a perfect archer. I’m sure if you put something in front of me, I’d probably fire behind or something. But they make me look good with CG arrows and things. And I really enjoyed knowing how it’s done. It’s just that you then have to alter it to fit cameras under your arms and over your head and things like that. The nice thing about this movie is that it’s not just kaboom, I get to use the bow more creatively and throw arrows around.

Peter Dinklage: Alan Poppleton is our stunt coordinator, and he was the stunt coordinator on the first one as well and he worked on Lord of the Rings. He’s really really good at what he does. And he has a great team. They’re a New Zealand company. They make us look really good. I mean, all that stuff is because of them and the training they put us through.

Anna Popplewell: We’re not like real life action heroes, really.

Peter Dinklage: No. Kind of scared of that.

Anna Popplewell: Kind of ordinary.

(laughter)

Reporter: Peter, is this the most action you’ve done in a film?

Peter Dinklage: Yeah, I guess so, right? Yeah. I’ve done a lot of emotional action but..(laughter) alright, I’m gonna stop now. (laughter) Sorry. What’s wrong with me? I can’t help it!

Anna Popplewell: It’s the coffee, Peter.

Peter Dinklage: It’s the coffee. I’ve had a lot of coffee. But, yeah, definitely.But it’s fun. When you get a sword and a bow and arrow, and you’re in armor you, it really helps with the make-believe. It really does a lot of the work for you. It really puts you into that world.

Reporter: Anna, you’re studying at Oxford now?

Anna Popplewell: Yes.

Reporter: So, how difficult is it for you to be acting and juggling your education?

Anna Popplewell: Well, I should be writing an essay right now, so actually I should.. (gestures for the door) (laughter) No, it’s, I’ve been doing bits and pieces since I was about seven on sets and things, so it’s always been part of the routine for me, studying in the evenings or during lunch or whenever I can. And I’ve always been really determined about juggling the two, and I think if it’s something that you want to do, you manage it. So while I’m in Oxford, I’m doing lots of student drama and when I’m not, I hope to do some stuff in the holidays, and I’m just gonna see how it goes and try and keep both up for as long as possible.

Reporter: Do you have any upcoming dramas at Oxford?

Anna Popplewell: I’m doing Spring Awakening in a couple of weeks. Not the musical version, because I just can’t sing for toffee, but the play.

Reporter: So your major is drama?

Anna Popplewell: I’m actually studying English literature.

Peter Dinklage: Sing for toffee? I like that.

Anna Popplewell: British expression.

Peter Dinklage: Sing for toffee.

Anna Popplewell: Can’t sing for toffee.

Peter Dinklage: I’m gonna use that with an American accent.

Anna Popplewell: If somebody offered me toffee, then could not sing.

Peter Dinklage: I can’t sing for toffee.

Reporter: Peter, do red heads have more fun?

Peter Dinklage: Do red heads have more.. oh Trumpkin’s a red head, right! (laughter) I’m like ‘Hello, back there! Let me think, what magazine do you work for?’ (laughter) Yeah.. apparently. Although Trumpkin is losing his red hair, isn’t he? He needs to go to Red Hair Club for Men. (laughter) Yeah, that was fun. That was all yak hair and human hair. Somewhere on a mountain top, there’s a very cold yak, because of my make-up. But I made sure the yak was treated properly. Yeah, it’s fun. It’s a little toasty in the hot weather of Eastern Europe.

Anna Popplewell: Pete was amazing. You know, in a battle scene I have a leather bodice on, and bits of chain mail and stuff.

Peter Dinklage: You had a corset though, you could breathe!

Anna Popplewell: Yeah. And I feel uncomfortable, and I look at Pete and he has a yak on his face. (laughter) And he’s still smiling.

Peter Dinklage: Some days, I was smiling.

Anna Popplewell: Occasionally.

Peter Dinklage: Yeah, Occasionally I’d smile.

Anna Popplewell: Yeah, every now and then.

Reporter: What was it like working with Ben?

Peter Dinklage: Ben’s great. I have a new friend. He’s really funny. We have a very similar sense of humor and that’s always important and I loved his performance last night in the film. Movie acting’s tricky. I think with a lot of it, you can’t tell. I mean, I’ve worked with some great actors, and when you’re doing scenes with them, you sort of can’t tell if they’re acting. You can’t see their greatness, really, and then you see it on screen and it’s amazing. I think Ben has that quality and he made the eight months much easier. I think he has a great career ahead of him.

Reporter: Peter, you’re a star in your own right.

Peter Dinklage: Thank you.

Reporter: James McAvoy’s career really soared after Narnia. Do you have great expectations after this film?

Peter Dinklage: Uh.. yeah.. I mean. You know, expectation is a funny thing. I enjoy working. As an actor I think you’re lucky if you’re working, so you just sort of surround yourself with good people and good scripts and hopefully it will pay off. And apparently I’m doing the next one. I can say that because our producer announced it at comic-con last week, so I’m looking forward to that.

Paul Martin: So you worked with Warwick Davis a little bit.

Peter Dinklage: I did.

Paul Martin: Would you like to work with him again?

Peter Dinklage: Sure! If the opportunity arises, yeah. I don’t think we had enough in this film, so I’d love to work with him again. Yeah. Definitely. He’s a very good actor and very experienced with the make-up. I mean, that was sort of one of my first times in that heavy make-up, and Warwick has done so much of that work. He’s an old pro. So, yeah, he’s a good guy.

Reporter: Other than the Narnia projects, are there any other projects that’re coming up that you’re working on?

Peter Dinklage: Yeah, I’m gonna do a play over the summer. A Chekov play.

Reporter: On Broadway?

Peter Dinklage: No, summer theater, upstate New York. Then I’m doing about three or four independent films here and in Los Angeles, before the next Narnia.

Reporter: Did you audition for Narnia or not?

Peter Dinklage: No, I met with Andrew Adamson out in L.A. and I wasn’t actually completely sold on doing it until I met Andrew. I really loved the first movie, but I was a little wary of my involvement and my character because I hadn’t read the script yet. I had read the book. But meeting Andrew changed my mind. He brought me into the animation department where they were already storyboarding the whole movie on computers, and I saw that they had used my face as a reference for Trumpkin. And there I was all over the walls, and running with a bow and arrow on a computer. I was like, ‘That’s me as a video game! Hmm! I guess I can’t say no! I guess I gotta make their jobs easier!’ (laughter) But, not, that was interesting, but it was really meeting Andrew. He’s such a creative force and such a nice person in a great way. You know, cause you meet nice people all the time, but they are nice to sort of just to be a people pleaser. And Andrew’s just genuinely nice, and so talented and creative, so I couldn’t turn that down.

Reporter: Well you mentioned reading the book. When you have a movie that’s based on such a beloved book, do you feel the need to immerse yourself in it, or is the script enough to get you through it?

Peter Dinklage: The script and the director is enough for me. I mean, that’s all you have when you say yes to a movie, or no to a movie. You don’t know who you’re going to be working with. You don’t know what egos you’re going to be working with at that point. So, yeah, it’s all decisions that I make as an actor are all based on meeting the director. I have to meet the director before I say yes. And the script. Although I didn’t read the script for this, I just met Andrew, and that was enough. And seeing all the storyboarding and everything. And obviously the first film.

Reporter: Peter, it’s me back here again.

Peter Dinklage: Hello! (laughter) I’m ready for your sauciness. (laughter) Are you listening to music while we do this? (referring to her headphones) (laughter) What are you doing? (laughter)

Reporter: Listening to my audio.

Peter Dinklage: Are you with these people? (laughter) No, I’m just kidding.

Reporter: You have a serious persona, but yet you are funny in the movie. Was that scripted or did you improv at all, your lines?

Peter Dinklage: No. I didn’t improv anything. I mean, we had tweaked stuff a little bit, I guess, on set. And Andrew was always very willing to change things dialog-wise for everybody, if they weren’t working. Sometimes words on a page are different than words being spoken by an actor in the environment you are in. So that’s just common sense to sort of change things, and if you’re working with a really good director, who is luckily also – we’re lucky to have Andrew as one of the writers of the movie as well – you don’t have to call L.A. and get approval, Andrew just goes ’sure, alright, yeah, let’s change it, because you’re right.’ So that’s always nice. But improving, no. It was more about tweaking some dialog and mutually agreeing upon it.

Reporter: Anna, your character is not in the next one, and we talked with William about it and he actually seems ready to kind of move on, just like his character, move on and he’s learned all he can from this movie and he’s ready to move on. Do you have the same kind of feeling or are you kinda sad to see your end?

Anna Popplewell: I mean I think Will and I were both sad, you know, on the last days on set. This has been a big, long journey for both of us, purely in the amount of time that it’s taken up. let alone what has happened. But at the same time, I don’t think that I would gain a lot, or that audiences would gain a lot from me playing the same character seven times for seven months at a time. And so, I’m sad to go, but I’m happy to move on. I finished shooting in September, August/September, and I started Oxford in October and I’ve just been reading and playing and doing plays and things like that ever since. And having a great time, really.

Reporter: What do your friends think of you as like a movie star, or as a film star?

Anna Popplewell: I don’t think my friends really think of me as a movie star. (laughter)

Peter Dinklage: Friends are like that, aren’t they. (laughter) I guess that’s why they’re friends.

Anna Popplewell: Yeah! Well, I mean, the people I’m friending with are very cool about it, and not particularly interested in it really. I mean, I’m sure they’ll see the film, but they’re not sitting around.. uh..

Peter Dinklage: I think we both have friends who are outside of the business, which is very healthy sometimes.

Anna Popplewell: Exactly.

Peter Dinklage: Who are just like: ‘I don’t care.’ (laughter)

Anna Popplewell: Yeah, I mean, I don’t walk down the street in London with huge sunglasses and a sign saying ‘look at me, I was in Narnia.’ (laughter) I lead a pretty regular life.

Reporters: Thank you!

Peter Dinklage: Thank you guys!

Anna Popplewell: Thank you!

Reporter: What are some stuff that you indulge in or splurge on, like…

Anna Popplewell: Indulge in…um… I don’t know, really.

Reporter: Shoes, bags, music, make-up.

Anna Popplewell: All the normal stuff, really.

Peter Dinklage: With her? Books.

Anna Popplewell: Yeah, a lot of books, DVDs, that kind of thing.

Reporter: Favorite book?

Anna Popplewell: Oh, it changes all the time. At the moment, I’m really into Henry James.

Reporters: Thank you!

Coming up next in the day, producer Mark Johnson. Beyond him is the final interview in the series: Ben Barnes. Stay tuned!

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Alright, Narnia fans. If you’ve seen Prince Caspian, please go and see it again. Now that you have seen it once, you know what’s been changed from the book to the screen, so there’s no surprise there anymore. You can now sit back and enjoy it as a film, and a great one.

I have seen it four times, and trust me on this, it never lost it’s luster. In fact, it maintained the excitement and I liked it more with each viewing. This is something that is very difficult to achieve, but when there is so much depth to the story, you notice more with each screening.

In all honesty, I am a pretty big movie fan. I have seen close to 700 movies that I know of, and my DVD collection is big enough that my friends constantly ask me if I have this movie or that for movie nights, and I usually do. I’ve seen Iron Man. I’ve also seen Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull twice. I’ve even seen Speed Racer.

Now, you can’t really compare Iron Man to Prince Caspian any more than you can Indiana Jones. I enjoyed Iron Man well enough. Thought it was good, but I wasn’t all that impressed with the effects. When comparing it to Transformers, Iron Man could have been more realistic looking. Giant transforming robots from another world were more realistic on screen, matching the world much better than some of the shots of Iron Man. Specifically the Mach One suit that Tony Stark built. There were times it looked awesome, and times it looked CG, pulling me out of the story.

Indiana Jones, I wasn’t planning on seeing a second time, but I wasn’t opposed when a few more friends wanted to see it. It was ridiculous fun. Ridiculous and fun, and that’s about all I asked from it, because all of the Indiana Jones movies are like that. I really enjoyed the cheesiness of it. It was part of it’s charm.

That being said, Prince Caspian has many moments that I love. It’s a fun movie to watch with a darkness to the story that aids in the building momentum. Arguably the weakest of the seven Narnia stories, it has become one incredible adventure.

For those that haven’t yet seen the film, you may want to stop reading now.

The castle raid, I thought, was a brilliant addition, and the end of it, when the remaining Narnians are caught by the gate, it heightens the emotional core of the film to a level that would not have been achieved otherwise. King Peter has a failure there, as does Caspian. Sure, it adds some tension between the two that isn’t in the books, but that tension also builds up their relationship with regard for one another. They later realize that they failed together before, and it makes it more important when they start to work together.

Another of those moments happens during the battle at Aslan’s How. The Narnian army is retreating, trying to get back into the How, when one of the trebuchets hits the doorway, blocking them off. Caspian and Peter turn around, watching the battle happening all over. It’s sinking in that it’s do or die time. There’s nothing left to do, now, but fight, because they cannot retreat. The others join them: Susan, Trumpkin and Edmund. And together they regroup and attack with their final push against the Telmarine armies.

Those scenes, I think, are two of my favorite scenes that aren’t necessarily in the book, but are a credit to the filmmakers for developing them, adding to the emotional core of the film.

If you’ve seen the movie and enjoyed it, if you loved it, see it again. If you haven’t seen it because you don’t want to see something different from the book: it’s not terribly different from the book anyway. It does, indeed, capture the spirit and the essence of the book, and even enhances some of the messages of the book that don’t really stand out when you read it.

If you hated the movie because you love the book and are unforgiving of it because it is different: realize that movies can never really be exactly like books. Take The Lord of the Rings. As a film, if they did it as the book was written, it would have been nearly 30 hours long. Perhaps longer. As it stands, it is a 12 hour epic that had to change things and make it their own. And it excels at it. Not only that, but if you want to read the Lord of the Rings, you still can. It’s almost like you’re reading the deleted scenes as well, which are fun to learn about.

Harry Potter is another book series that fans have had outcries about. I’ve never read any of the Harry Potter books, and the only movies that I’ve liked in that series are Prisoner of Azkaban and Order of the Phoenix. (I did listen to the seventh book on CD, skipping book six entirely, ha!)

There are also books that make better movies. Big Fish, for example. I saw the movie and then I read the book. The movie is better. The Shawshank Redemption, I feel is better than the novella that it is based on, as well.

Now that you know that Prince Caspian is different from the book, understand that it is what it is. If you want the book to film version identical: watch the BBC version. There’s still that. Plus, you still have the book! Now that there is the movie, perhaps more will read the book, and I suggest that you do. Just understand that the movie is different with good reasons. No decision was made without much thought and consideration on part of the writers. I know this, as I have personally spoken to them about this. Check out my NYC series of articles for the interview with the writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. They’re awesome guys that really know their Narnia.

Plus, we want them to continue making Narnia films, do we not? We know they’re making Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and they’re looking for a director for The Silver Chair. But that’s as far as the BBC took their Narnia series. Let’s help this series go all the way to The Last Battle!

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There’s a rumor that is about to spread, starting at “My Park Magazine.” That rumor is that James McAvoy, Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, is close to signing to play Bilbo Baggins in Guillermo del Toro’s The Hobbit.

James McAvoy is set to play Bilbo Baggins in ‘The Hobbit‘.

Film bosses are rumoured to be close to signing McAvoy – who played the faun Mr. Tumnus in ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe‘ – to play the fantasy hero in the big screen adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s book.

An insider said: “A number of names have privately been doing the rounds, including Daniel Radcliffe and Jack Black but James is the one the film’s bosses really want. They’re expected to have talks with him soon so hopefully it could be confirmed in the not too distant future.”

Director Guillermo del Toro has refused to comment on the rumours, only saying: “I can tell you it’s down to a few names that we all agree upon. For our first choice we all said the same name, it was completely magical.”

‘The Hobbit‘ is the prequel to the ‘Lord of the Rings‘ trilogy.

In the recent movies directed by Peter Jackson, Baggins was played by Ian Holm.

I’d like to point something out, though. They did not get that quote from del Toro with regards to James McAvoy. In fact, no names have been mentioned yet. Not McAvoy, not Jack Black and most certainly not Radcliffe. Daniel Radcliffe will be too busy filming Harry Potter 7 and 8 for The Hobbit, anyway, I am sure.

No, the quote is from Empire Online, which goes on to say: Obviously the script is yet to be written by Jackson, Del Toro and Philippa Boyens, so there won’t be a name attached to this for some time (despite poking with sticks Del Toro was mum on the identity of the actor, who probably doesn’t know he’s in the frame yet). Del Toro says we can expect “at least a year before we announce any casting”. So, while they have a name in mind, you can count any forthcoming rumours as false, at least until the script is written.

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A highly competitive film season is weighing on the returns of “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Robert Iger said at an analyst conference Wednesday.

Speaking at the Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference, Iger said the second installment in the “Narnia” series is not doing as well as the first, nor as well as Disney officials had hoped.

Iger pointed out that the movie business is a crowded field, and the marketplace can’t always accommodate all the releases that a studio puts out.

“I think there are too many movies being released in the marketplace,” Iger said, later adding, “It’s a very delicate, very fragile marketplace.”

“Prince Caspian” was released May 16 and has made an estimated $146 million in worldwide receipts thus far. But the movie’s production costs are estimated at $200 million. In order to turn a profit in theaters alone, “Prince Caspian” would have to make roughly $500 million worldwide when marketing costs are included. The film is expected to have a home video life, however.

Iger says this latest installment is a better film than the first in the series, “The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” which debuted during the 2006 Christmas season. That film went on to make $744.8 million worldwide on a production budget of $180 million.

But the first “Narnia” film benefited from more favorable scheduling. “Prince Caspian” was sandwiched between two high-profile releases from Viacom Inc.’s Paramount Pictures unit — “Iron Man,” with $487.8 million in worldwide returns since its May 2 debut, and eagerly awaited “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” The latter film was released Thursday and has made roughly $300 million worldwide thus far.

Read the rest at Marketwatch

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At first I hardly recognise the elegant little Venus in jeans, with opulent Scarlett Johansson lips. It’s abundantly obvious that Anna Popplewell has done a lot of growing up since she made her name as bossy schoolgirl Susan, one of the four Pevensie children who discover the magic kingdom of Narnia in the Disney film adaptation of C S Lewis’s The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. As Anna puts it, ‘I was 13 when I had my first audition for Susan; 15 when I made the first movie; 16 at the end of the shoot; 17 when it was released; 18 when I filmed the sequel, Prince Caspian, and now I’m 19.’

The comparisons with 18-year-old Emma Watson, who plays Hermione in the Harry Potter films, are irresistible. Both are bright and talented, and both have had to live their adolescence in the glare of the spotlight as the iconic screen heroines of two of the most famous children’s fantasy adventures in the world. Anna’s second Narnian outing, in Prince Caspian, gives Susan a startling change of image as a warlike queen in titanium chain mail and a leather corset. ‘I have a lot more action going on in this movie, which is great,’ she says, delighted to find herself armed with a quiver of arrows, the only female on the battlefield as she helps the disinherited Prince Caspian to regain his Narnian throne. ‘I was quite worried about not being able to keep up with the boys,’ she admits, ‘so, on the quiet, I had twice as many riding lessons as anyone else before we went out to film in Prague. When the battle scene was being choreographed, we started a body count of all the people we had “slain” and I was doing very well,’ she adds with a grin.

As an actress, you can’t hope for a more high-profile film role than an action heroine. And despite having to fit A-level revision into breaks between takes, during 12-hour days in the 40C heat of a Czech summer, Anna enjoyed every perspiring minute of the adrenalin rush. ‘At least I didn’t have to run up and down hills wearing a suit of armour, like the boys,’ she points out. ‘There were 500 people on the battlefield one day and it was so hot and crazy that there were some injuries – but nothing too bad.’

The filming proved to be a particularly poignant time for Anna, because Prince Caspian will mark her swan song as Susan; as all devotees of C S Lewis’s seven chronicles of Narnia know, Susan only appears in two of the novels. Another book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is currently in preproduction, but the two eldest children, Peter and Susan, won’t appear in it, for at the end of Prince Caspian they are told by the lion Aslan that they won’t be coming back to the magic kingdom of Narnia because they are too old. And although Peter makes an appearance in the final Narnia book, The Last Battle, by then Susan is no longer a friend of Narnia because ‘she’s interested in nothing except nylons and lipstick and invitations’.

Mention of the line that left readers in no doubt what Lewis thought of frivolous girls provokes a giggle from this blue-eyed, brown-haired teenager in her hoop earrings and black, high-heeled boots. ‘I’m not totally “nylons and lipstick” orientated like Susan,’ she protests playfully. We’ve met in London’s Soho at her first grown-up fashion shoot, to celebrate her transition from child star to full-time student, and in fact she couldn’t look more contented and happy with what seems to me like a new-found freedom. Her departure from the Narnia series was a genuine case of life imitating art – since Anna, like the fictional Susan, was developing other interests anyway and felt ready for a change (she went to Oxford University to study English two months after finishing the filming). But she admits she will ‘miss the people and the buzz of being on a massive film’, adding, ‘It was quite a bitter-sweet thing to film Susan and Peter’s departure because it was quite true to life. I think it’s sad, but it’s also realistic for Susan at that stage in her life to go back into the real world and forget about Narnia,’ she says.

Read the rest at Daily Mail!

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OPENING THIS SUMMER: Journey into Narnia: Prince Caspian Attraction at Disney’s Hollywood Studios Theme Park at Walt Disney World Resort.

Walk through the portal and see what rich enchantment the Disney Imagineers have created, working side-by-side with the filmmakers themselves to produce this extraordinary three-dimensional extension of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

You’ll be drawn into the fantasy before you enter the soundstage…

Your journey begins in the queue where you can test your knowledge of the Narnia stories. Next, either head into the soundstage or introduce yourself to Prince Caspian himself! Then experience a unique look at the epic story in Soundstage 4, where you can watch special behind-the-scenes footage featuring the film’s director, Andrew Adamson.

The next step takes you deeper…

Pass through a rockwork archway, and you enter Aslan’s Stone Table Chamber, the underground vault where Aslan sacrificed himself in the first movie. You stand amidst gorgeous stone carvings in one of the most awe-inspiring sets in the series, which is also a pivotal location in the film, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

The adventure will surround you…

Multiple screens, dimensional sound and in-theater effects help you live the story of Narnia firsthand, as you explore this walk-through chamber in depth, guided through the tale of Prince Caspian’s courageous battle against the evil King Miraz to win back his rightful place on the throne.

See how it was conceived…

Finally, conclude the journey with a close up look at the authentic concept art and storyboards that contributed to bringing the motion picture to life, as well as the actual props and costumes used by the film cast.

It’s unforgettable…

Take home with you the living memory of Journey into Narnia: Prince Caspian Attraction now forever etched in your own adventurous mind!

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After a long hiatus, we’re back! Roger Thomas and John Burkitt bring you their first impressions of Prince Caspian (the movie, not the book…they have 12th impressions of the book). The show is rounded out by a new Bard’s Tale, “Good Luck” which is anything but!

We have switched to a monthly format. Our next podcast will be the last Saturday in each month and be released on the following day. Yes, when we say “For Sunday…” we are saying it on Saturday. Life is full of deception. Get over it.

Listen to the podcast by clicking the button to the left of the link below.
Download the MP3 | More NarniaFansCast Episodes!

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Young Hollywood had a BLAST hanging out with William Moseley from The Chronicles of Narnia! Be sure to check out their interview with him. No doubt Narnia and Will’s fans will love to see it!

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Title: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: The Tail of Reepicheep.
Based on The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian by CS Lewis
Adapted by: EK Stein
Illustrated by: Justin Sweet
Publisher: HarperEntertainment (April 1, 2008)

ISBN-10: 0061231568
ISBN-13: 978-0061231568

Summary of the book:

Reepicheep was a brave little mouse who lived in Narnia. He wanted to free the land from the Telmarines and help Prince Caspian take his rightful throne. Reepicheep and the other mice took part in a big battle. The brave mouse was wounded in the battle and lost his tail in the process. The other mice were willing to remove theirs in honor of him. For their devotion, Aslan restored Reepicheep’s tail.

Review of the book:

Reepicheep! Yes, he is a mouse. Need I say more for any long time fans of the Chronicles of Narnia? If a fan sees his name on the book alone, they are immediately interested in reading it. Forget any comparisons to him and Puss n’ Boots in Shrek, Reepicheep the mouse is to Narnia what Chewbacca the Wookie is to Star Wars. He’s brave, fearless, courageous, heroic, but at the same time he’s also fluffy, cute and cuddly ( just don’t let him catch you saying that). Irregardless of who their favorite character is, fans will always have a soft spot in their heart for that lovable fur ball.

Naturally, due to his place amongst the vast collective of fans, a tie in book focusing on him would be in order. This book is by no means a brand new story. It is a nice retelling of the exploits of Reepicheep from the book Prince Caspian. It would have been difficult to try and come up with a new story focusing on him. Fans of the Chronicles can be very protective of the series and to many of them adding a brand new story to the legends would be unacceptable. The fact that it is the “same story” just different, doesn’t at all take away from the enjoy ability of the story. It is, afterall meant for the youngest of readers, so young children will finally have a Narnia book that is “just for them” as the novels are better suited for their older brothers, sisters and cousins.

The title of the book is a pun on Reepicheep’s actual “tail” and the type of “tale” that is a story, similar to what was done with the title the animated movie An American Tail with the mouse Fievel. As it is about him loosing his tail in battle and Aslan restoring it is a very natural one to make.

Unlike a lot of tie in books, this one does not feature pictures from the movie. Instead it utilizes some of the concept art and employs the art very nicely. The pictures give the story an almost surreal dream like quality that is missing from other tie ins and make it feel like a children‘s book and not a strict movie tie-in. Younger children may not appreciate it much, but older readers will appreciate the fact that everything doesn’t look “exactly” like the movie.

The story is short as it is meant for little kids and the dialogue is extremely limited. The story’s briskness aside, it is a fun and engaging read with very nice illustrations. Little ones will enjoy it and it is certain to make a good story to share with them for bed-time. I know I’d be glad to share it with a little one.

Four out of Five shields.

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