Narnia Fans » Casting

Roy Billing cast as Chief Dufflepud in Dawn Treader

Paul Martin — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 07:01:56 +0000

Moviehole is reporting the New Zealand actor Roy Billing has been cast as the Chief Duffer (head of the Dufflepuds) in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The actor speaks about the role, saying, “I hope on a plane on Monday. I’m playing Chief Dufflepud – a gnome-like creature who hops around on one leg. There’s a whole heap of [Dufflepuds]. It should take a week or so to film my scene.”

Billing says the first thing he has to do when he arrives is get fitted for his prosthetics. The Dufflepuds are a curious group of [one-legged] creatures that Eustace, Lucy and their companions come upon in their adventures. Though not intelligent, they have the power of invisibility. Of the local actors involved in the directed sequel, Gary Sweet (”Macbeth”) has the biggest role, says Billing.

“Gary has quite a big role – he’s playing a Sea Captain. He’s probably in a half to three quarters of the movie.”

Though he’s been working in the industry for 30 years, this is Billing’s first time doing a big Hollywood production. He didn’t need to think twice when asked to come onboard.

“The first Narnia movies were a big success, and I’m sure this will be too – with all the special effects and so on. It should be good.”

You can read more about the actor at Moviehole

Here’s an excerpt of the big speech given by the Chief:

“Well,” said the Chief Voice. “It’s like this. This island has been the property of a great magician time out of mind. And we all are – or perhaps in a manner of speaking, I might say, we were – his servants. Well, to cut a long story short, this magician that I was speaking about, he told us to do something we didn’t like. And why not? Because we didn’t want to. Well, then, this same magician he fell into a great rage; for I ought to tell you he owned the island and he wasn’t used to being crossed. He was terribly downright, you know. But let me see, where am I? Oh yes, this magician then, he goes upstairs (for you must know he kept all his magic things up there and we all lived down below), I say he goes upstairs and puts a spell on us. An uglifying spell. If you saw us now, which in my opinion you may thank your stars you can’t, you wouldn’t believe what we looked like before we were uglified. You wouldn’t really. So there we all were so ugly we couldn’t bear to look at one another. So then what did we do? Well, I’ll tell you what we did. We waited till we thought this same magician would be asleep in the afternoon and we creep upstairs and go to his magic book, as bold as brass, to see if we can do anything about this uglification. But we were all of a sweat and a tremble, so I won’t deceive you. But, believe me or believe me not, I do assure you that we couldn’t find any thing in the way of a spell for taking off the ugliness. And what with time getting on and being afraid that the old gentleman might wake up any minute – I was all of a muck sweat, so I won’t deceive you – well, to cut a long story short, whether we did right or whether we did wrong, in the end we see a spell for making people invisible. And we thought we’d rather be invisible than go on being as ugly as all that. And why? Because we’d like it better. So my little girl, who’s just about your little girl’s age, and a sweet child she was before she was uglified, though now – but least said soonest mended – I say, my little girl she says the spell, for it’s got to be a little girl or else the magician himself, if you see my meaning, for otherwise it won’t work. And why not? Because nothing happens. So my Clipsie says the spell, for I ought to have told you she reads beautifully, and there we all were as invisible as you could wish to see. And I do assure you it was a relief not to see one another’s faces. At first, anyway. But the long and the short of it is we’re mortal tired of being invisible. And there’s another thing. We never reckoned on this magician (the one I was telling you about before) going invisible too. But we haven’t ever seen him since. So we don’t know if he’s dead, or gone away, or whether he’s just sitting upstairs being invisible, and perhaps coming down and being invisible there. And, believe me, it’s no manner of use listening because he always did go about with his bare feet on, making no more noise than a great big cat. And I’ll tell all you gentlemen straight, it’s getting more than what our nerves can stand.”

Read a bit about the Chief Duffer
Roy Billing Bio

Pug and Lord Bern Cast for Dawn Treader

Paul Martin — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 02:21:14 +0000

Narniaweb received word of two more actors being cast in roles for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Cast in the role of Pug is Australian (Aussie) actor Colin Moody. In the role of Lord Bern is actor Terry Norris. It appears that casting is in full swing, and we’ll be learning more and more as the days go on!

We’ve already added pages for each of the actors to our website.

Terry Norris cast as Lord Bern

Here is venerable actor Terry Norris, a veteran of the stage and screen who is playing the role of Lord Bern in the film. Here’s an excerpt of the story, a quote of Lord Bern:

“Short enough, Sire,” said Bern. “I came thus far with my six fellows, loved a girl of the islands, and felt I had had enough of the sea. And there was no purpose in returning to Narnia while your Majesty’s uncle held the reins. So I married and have lived here ever since.”

And finally in the role of Pug is Colin Moody, who graduated from Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) with a degree in Performing Arts (Acting) in 1990.

Here’s an excerpt of Pug’s introduction in the book:

Colin Moody cast as Pug

At that moment a fine-looking bearded man came out of one of the houses (an inn, I think) and said:

“Well, Pug. More of your usual wares?”

The slaver, whose name seemed to be Pug, bowed very low, and said in a wheedling kind of voice, “Yes, please your Lordship.”

“How much do you want for that boy?” asked the other, pointing to Caspian.

“Ah,” said Pug, “I knew your Lordship would pick on the best. No deceiving your Lordship with anything second rate. That boy, now, I’ve taken a fancy to him myself. Got kind of fond of him, I have. I’m that tender-hearted I didn’t ever ought to have taken up this job. Still, to a customer like your Lordship-”

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David Vallon cast as Gumpas for Dawn Treader

Paul Martin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 18:00:07 +0000

We’ve discovered that David Vallon has been cast in the role of Gumpas for the film The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. He’s a character actor who has appeared as a bartender in the film Scooby-Doo and was last seen in 2005’s The Proposition.

Here is the description of Gumpas from the book:

Behind a table at the far end with various secretaries about him sat his Sufficiency, the Governor of the Lone Islands. Gumpas was a bilious-looking man with hair that had once been red and was now mostly grey. He glanced up as the strangers entered and then looked down at his papers saying automatically, “No interviews without appointments except between nine and ten p.m. on second Saturdays.”

And here is the first picture I could find, so far, from Scooby-Doo:

David Vallon in Scooby-Doo

And here is a picture of David Vallon on set as Gumpas:

David Vallon as Gumpas on the Dawn Treader Set

Bille Brown cast as Coriakin in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Paul Martin — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:26:13 +0000

We’ve received word from the production that the wizard Coriakin has been cast for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The actor that is playing the role is Bille Brown, a drama graduate of the University of Queensland. He is a well-known Shakespearean actor who began with the Queensland Theatre Company. Later, he served as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in Stratford and London. Coriakin is the magician whose mansion is found on the Isle of Duffers where he governs the dufflepuds.

Here’s a passage from chapter eleven of the book, featuring Coriakin. Beware, it is full of spoilers if you haven’t read the book:

Lucy followed the great Lion out into the passage and at once she saw coming towards them an old man, barefoot, dressed in a red robe. His white hair was crowned with a chaplet of oak leaves, his beard fell to his girdle, and he supported himself with a curiously carved staff. When he saw Aslan he bowed low and said,

“Welcome, Sir, to the least of your houses.”

“Do you grow weary, Coriakin, of ruling such foolish subjects as I have given you here?”

“No,” said the Magician, “they are very stupid but there is no real harm in them. I begin to grow rather fond of the creatures. Sometimes, perhaps, I am a little impatient, waiting for the day when they can be governed by wisdom instead of this rough magic.”

“All in good time, Coriakin,” said Aslan.

“Yes, all in very good time, Sir,” was the answer. “Do you intend to show yourself to them?”

“Nay,” said the Lion, with a little half-growl that meant (Lucy thought) the same as a laugh. “I should frighten them out of their senses. Many stars will grow old and come to take their rest in islands before your people are ripe for that. And today before sunset I must visit Trumpkin the Dwarf where he sits in the castle of Cair Paravel counting the days till his master Caspian comes home. I will tell him all your story, Lucy. Do not look so sad. We shall meet soon again.”

Tony Nixon cast as Rynelf in Voyage of the Dawn Treader?

Paul Martin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:59:54 +0000

According to the Internet Movie Database, Tony Nixon has been cast in the role of Rynelf, one of the sailors aboard the Dawn Treader vessel. We’re going to try to verify this, but it is likely as smaller roles like this are very likely to go to mostly unknown actors. Tony Nixon has also appeared in a made for TV movie called “Mermaids” which is kind of ironic, considering there are merfolk in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. We’ll have to wait and see what we hear from our sources to verify the actor, though it shouldn’t take too long.

This is all very exciting though, as the cast is coming together, and we should see more casting announcements all the time, as filming progresses!

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Dawn Treader Casting Confirmation: Roles Revealed

Paul Martin — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:22:06 +0000

We’ve done our due diligence and discovered the roles that each of the new cast members is playing in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Earlier today a press release went out announcing that Gary Sweet, Arthur Angel and Bruce Spence had joined the cast, but there was no word on the roles that they were to play in the film. Now we’ve learned what those roles will be, and we couldn’t be happier with the choices for these characters. They look like they’ll be formidable characters in the film.

Gary Sweet will be playing the role of Drinian, the Captain of the Dawn Treader.

Gary Sweet

Arthur Angel will be in the role of Rhince, the first mate on the Dawn Treader.

Arthur Angel

And finally, character actor Bruce Spence will be in the role of Lord Rhoop, one of the seven missing lords that Caspian is seeking out on his journey.

Bruce Spence

NarniaFans Mailbag #37: Academy Awards, Publicity and Casting

Paul Martin — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 20:26:55 +0000

This week’s mailbag is a little bit late, and I apologize for that. I had some stuff to get done this week, and I’ve started doing a new project. Not to mention that I have been a little sick, so I’ve gotten a lot of extra sleep lately. Not that it has anything to do with this. Anyway, let’s get to it, some interesting letters came in this week.

Q: When the list of eligible songs for the “Best Original Song” Academy Award was released, “The Call” was there but “This is Home” and the others weren’t. Can you explain this?

-Skulblaka_Shur’tugal

Paul: Good question. I’m not sure the rules on this, and even the official site for the Oscars doesn’t have the rules for eligibility posted in this category. There must have been a reason, but I just can’t find it. Can anyone else?

Q: I want to say something about the most recent mailbag; Skulbaka had a question about Fox’s handling of Narnia, and mentioned that Eragon was a poor film compared to the book. While I haven’t read Eragon and haven’t seen the film, so I don’t know anything about it, I do know that Fox has handled STar Wars quite well (which I believe you mentioned). HOWEVER, Fox will not be responsible for what’s in the script, am I right? Michael Apted and the screenwriter(s) are responsible for what goes into the script; the studios (Walden and Fox) will handle the distribution, marketing and publicity.

I also wanted to ask a question: since Disney has bailed on the films, do you think there will be better publicity for Voyage of the Dawn treader, like there was for Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe?

-Aravis Kenobi

Paul: Good additional points about the Dawn Treader script, and you are correct about that. I think that there’s a good chance for better publicity than Prince Caspian had. 20th Century Fox wants to make this a franchise and they don’t want to do one Narnia only to see it fail. Expect to see a lot in the way of publicity, this time around.

Q: Am I the only one who noticed the Narnia flag (rampant lion) on the opening shot of the Disney castle in the movie theater version of Prince Caspian? I was rather disappointed when it didn’t make the DVD.

Kelley

Paul: Now that you mention it, I sort of remember seeing it. Anyone have verification on this? I’m not sure I can find it. It is interesting if it really isn’t on the DVD. If I wasn’t watching the Ocean’s trilogy at the moment, I’d check the Blu-ray.

Q: Any idea on when we’ll hear casting announcements?
Do you think/know if TCF/Walden will market VDT to faith groups?

Mike

Paul: Casting announcements, if filming indeed starts in late July, some time this month. Keep your eyes on NarniaFans.com for these! I think that that Walden will market VDT to faith groups again, and hopefully with as much stress as they did LWW. The biggest problem is that the rest of the Narnia films don’t have as public a symbolic reference to Christ. Nor the name recognition. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe could have been released under that name alone. Calling it The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was pure marketing so that when future films in the series were released, people could see the name Narnia and remember the last film on the weight of that name alone.

And that’s it for this week’s mailbag. Keep sending us e-mails, and we’ll keep answering. If you have any answers, feel free to comment below, or send us an e-mail and we’ll post it in future mailbags.

NarniaFans Mailbag #31: Screenwriters on the Dawn Treader, Will Poulter, Special Effects and Casting

Paul Martin — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 04:23:55 +0000

This week’s mailbag is where we break loose. We’re going to tackle some pretty heavy questions about The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and more! It’s going to be fun. By the way, I just saw Disneynature’s Earth and I highly recommend it. The visuals are unlike anything I’ve seen before, and it was entertaining, funny and sad and everything in between. I’m looking forward, now, to their next Disneynature release: Oceans. That one is due out on Earth Day 2010.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s get started!

Q: I have a question for the mailbag. The question(s) is/are: Do you know how far along they are with the script? Was Michael Petroni brought in to revise LaGravanese’s draft or did he start from scratch? (Is the situation as it was for LWW, with Ann Peacock writing a draft with rewrites by Adamson and Markus & McFeely?)

Mike

Paul: When it comes to the script, they’re as far as they are. :-) That’s my way of saying that I don’t know. But what I do know is the following: the current re-write is draft six or seven of the script. This is typical of just about every movie to come out, however. I have never heard of a movie released based on a single draft of a script. Michael Petroni was brought in to revise LaGravanese’s draft.

A bit of history about the Ann Peacock screenplay: It was turned down. Markus and McFeely started from scratch and very little, if anything, was kept from the final draft that Ann Peacock turned in. Did LaGravanese start from scratch? It’s likely that he did, but not very probable. More likely than not, he took the existing script and made the changes that the Lewis Estate and producer Mark Johnson proposed in their presentation to 20th Century Fox. Now Petroni is working clean-up, like a pitcher brought in to close out a win in a baseball game, or a batter ready to clear the bases with a grand slam home-run (Go Tigers!). From what I understand, Petroni is a favorite screenplay finisher at 20th Century Fox at the moment. But, needless to say, I know it’s in good hands.

Q: Do you think that actor from the ‘Son of Rambow‘ movie well qaulified for the part as Eustace? What do you think? I have only heard/seen him on Narnia Movie News. I’m not so sure.

-Bookworm

Paul: I’ve seen Son of Rambow and I do believe that Will Poulter is qualified for Eustace. He’s definitely a great actor for the role and will fit the character well. I suppose that’s all that I can say! Look forward to it. He’ll perform well and fits the cast perfectly.

Q: What are the chances that the series’ changing hands (Disney to Fox) will adversely affect the movie’s effects department capacities?

And what sort of Narnia-related events are available to attend in the southern US right now?

-Lily_of_Archenland

Paul: Question 1: Not much, if at all. Disney didn’t handle any of the effects in the film. They hired effects houses to take care of all of it. And there were even different ones that handled The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe than those that handled Prince Caspian for the most part. In short: the effects should be at least the same level.

Question 2: Narnia Events in the southern U.S. I took a look around, and didn’t really come up with much. However, be sure to keep your eye on the C.S. Lewis Society of California’s event page. They keep things up to date, and you’ll be able to find events all over the world. I’ll try to keep up with that as well, here on NarniaFans.com!

You_are_a_mouse: I have another question- Do you know anything about the Dawn Treader Cast? Apart from our lovely returning cast and Eustace, is there any news, talk, rumours, speculation at all??? I’m desperate to know who Drinian is!

Paul: Nothing yet, but news should start appearing soon, if they are truly to start shooting in three or so months. It’s coming up fast, and that means we’ll soon have casting announcements coming out of our ears!

And that’s it for this week’s mailbag! Keep the e-mails coming! Also, be sure to check out our new Narnia Social Network! There you can blog, chat, and make friends among other fans of Narnia!

Voyage of the Dawn Treader Auditions and Casting Call Information

Paul Martin — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:22:00 +0000

Walt Disney Pictures’ “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” is now in pre-production and casting directors are accepting photos and resumes from talent.

*** Please submit photos and resumes by mail only. No phone calls or personal drop-offs *** And please don’t contact us, here at NarniaFans.com, for any roles. We can’t give you a role in any film. Also, make note that they are only casting for Dawn Treader and not any of the other Narnia films at this time.

See the post titled Photo and Resume Information regarding how to submit for acting roles.

Principal Actor Casting:

Nina Gold Casting
66-68 Margaret St.
5th Floor
London W1W 8SR
UK

Extras Casting New Zealand:

Liz Mullane
Odd Management Ltd.
PO Box 90860
Auckland Mail Centre
New Zealand

Extras Casting Mexico:

Casting Valdés
Apartado Postal 1-281
Zona Centro CP
Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco 48300
Mexico

The information that we are casting for Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader is NOT CORRECT! Our company is listed as being in charge of extras casting and though of course we’d love to do it, we have NOT been contracted for it. I don’t know who is responsible for this misinformation but please help us get the word out that it is bogus, and that when we open casting for any production we announce it on our website www.mexicocasting.com/new and www.myspace.com/mexicocasting2

Production Company:

Walden Media
1888 Century Park East
14th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90067

in association with

Walt Disney Pictures
500 S. Buena Vista St.
Burbank, CA 91521

Disney dropped the project on Christmas Eve. Fox 2000 has since picked it up. We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

Producers:

Mark Johnson
Andrew Adamson
Philip Steuer

Director:

Michael Apted

Filming Locations:

New Zealand
Fox Baja Studios, Rosarito, Baja California Norte, Mexico
Prague, Czech Republic
Australia

Cast:

Ben Barnes – Prince Caspian
Georgie Henley – Lucy Pevensie
Will Poulter – Eustace Clarence Scrubb
Skandar Keynes – Edmund Pevensie
Peter Dinklage – Trumpkin
Eddie Izzard – Reepicheep

Story:

Lucy and Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace where they meet up with Prince Caspian for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors before reaching the edge of the world.

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Will Poulter Cast as Eustace Clarence Scrubb

Paul Martin — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:57:00 +0000

Daily Mail is reporting that actor Will Poulter has joined the cast of “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” in the role of Eustace Clarence Scrubb. It is amazing just how much he looks like the Eustace that I think we all imagined him to be.

Will Poulter, who has been cast as pain-in-the-butt Eustace Scrubb, the Pevensie children’s cousin, in the next Narnia adventure to go before the cameras – The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader – which Michael Apted will direct.

Awful things happen to Eustace in this tale, but he learns. Will played Lee Carter, the scamp schoolboy in the film Son Of Rambow.

In fact, when I interviewed Will a few months ago I thought he’d be one holy terror, but he’s a very likeable 14-year-old Londoner, and I was struck by his perfect manners.

In Voyage Of The Dawn Treader he’ll join Ben Barnes, as Prince Caspian, and Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley, as Edmund and Lucy. Peter and Susan don’t feature in this story – at least not in the one C.S Lewis wrote.

The second Narnia picture, Prince Caspian, had its premiere last night and opens next week.

Talk about it in The Dancing Lawn
Read about him on IMDB

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Narnia Fans » Casting

Roy Billing cast as Chief Dufflepud in Dawn Treader

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