By Lil Princess
Disclaimer: Please be aware that a number of the film projects mentioned in this article are rated PG, PG-13 and higher. TLC does not necessarily endorse or recommend any of these films.
As progress moves forward on the new Narnia movie, sometimes it is beneficial to look back. I will during the course of this article tell about the actors and actresses who portrayed the Pevensies in the other three movies and where their lives have taken them.
William Moseley, remembered as Peter, the eldest of the Pevensie siblings, has gone on in his acting career and been involved in a number of projects since starring in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian. Recently he played the lead role as a WWI soldier in an Austrian romantic war film called The Silent Mountain (2014) (some may find this interesting given that LWW takes place during the time of WWII). During filming, some of the crew, as well as Moseley, were struck by lightning. According to several reports, as well as his own words, Moseley was fine later. Despite being struck by lightning, Moseley helped look after the other crew members. One might wonder if playing the knightly character of Sir Peter Wolfsbane/King Peter has bettered this actor. [1]
Moseley has acted in several different types of film media including shorts, TV shows, TV movies and feature movies. He appeared in two short films Don Cheadle Is Captain Planet (2011) and Partition (2012) and played the lead role in an action/thriller TV movie called Run (2013). He also played a German prince in an episode of the US crime drama TV series Perception entitled Kilimanjaro (2012). He has also performed in an action war film called The Veil and a TV movie called The Royals, about a fictional modern-day British royal family where he once again takes up the role of a prince. The last two are currently in post production and are set for release in 2015. [2]
Anna Popplewell, who played the second oldest of the Pevensies, was accepted to Magdalen Collage at Oxford University in 2007 and took part in student drama while studying there (as well as reprising her role in Prince Caspian as Susan Pevensie). She won a prize (for Best Supporting Actress) for her part in a student production. More recently, she appeared in the science fiction military TV series Halo 4: Forward Into Dawn (2012) (based on the Halo computer games) as a cadet named Chyler Silva. She is now appearing in a CW period drama TV show Reign (2013-) where she playes Lola, one of the handmaidens of Mary Queen of Scotts. [3] She says she would love to return to Narnia as Susan if The Horse and His Boy was ever made. [4]
Since The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the most recent Narnia film in which Skandar Keynes starred as the younger of the two brothers, Edmund Pevensie, the twenty-two year old actor seems to have taken a different path from the rest of his on-screen siblings. He has spent his time in rather different sorts of pursuits. In 2013, he visited the Galapagos Islands to meet a giant tortoise named Sebastian Keynes. [5]
He began his studies in 2010 at Pembroke College at Cambridge University in Arabic, Middle Eastern History, and Persian. As part of a year studying abroad, he spent some time as a foreign correspondent in Lebanon. He wrote about his experiences in an eight-part column for a Cambridge student paper. [6] He also ran in the Beirut Marathon in 2012.
Justjared intervied him in December of 2010. Commenting on his studies at Cambridge, he said:
I don’t have acting projects lined up right now. I am focusing on my four-year degree in Arabic and Middle Eastern history. A lot can change in that time, and I am not going to compromise that. I am going to see what happens in four year’s time. I am half-Lebanese. I’ve got a personal interest in these studies. I wasn’t brought up speaking Arabic. It was something I wanted to overcome, so I can go and live in Lebanon. We have a house there. And, academically, I find history – ancient and modern – very interesting. [7]
In August 2013, it was reported that Georgie Henley, who played the youngest of the Pevensies, Lucy, would be attending Cambridge. A news article in the Yorkshire Post reported that she will be studying English and matriculation photos revealed her to be attending Clare College. [8] During the span of years during which The Chronicles of Narnia was being produced, she also played a young Jane Eyre (2006) and was part of the naming process (along with co-star Skandar Keynes) in naming a lion cub at the Smithsonian National Zoo. The lion was named Aslan. [9]
Although she started out her career as a child actor in The Chronicles, she seems to be taking a very different path as an adult actor, staring in two soon-to-be-released horror films Perfect Sisters (2014) and Sisterhood of Night (2014).
References
[1] The Hollywood Reporter: ‘Narnia’ Star William Moseley Hit by Lightning During ‘Silent Mountain’ Shoot
[2] IMDB: William Moseley
[3] Wikipedia: Anna Popplewell
Wikipedia: Reign (TV Series)
Wikipedia: Halo 4 – Forward into Dawn
[4] Narniweb
[5] SkandarKeynes.com
[6] The Tab Cambridge Paper: Skandar Keynes
[7] JustJaredJr.
[8] Narnia Web article
Yorkshire Post
Matriculation Photos
[9] CBN.com: Smithsonian National Zoo Names Lion Cub “Aslan”
Good research, Lil! Thanks for all the information…I find it interesting that Skandar, who is arguably the best actor of the four, is the only one who’s not pursued acting since he finished the Narnia films.
You never know. He might later on after he finishes schooling..
I was actually wondering about that, Lil. He ought to be finishing up his fourth year now (in fact there’s a good chance he’s in the process of writing finals, ’cause many of my final year Oxford friends are), so I wonder what he has planned next.
Then again, many child actors and actresses have gotten really messed up due to stardom. Maybe Skandar is trying to avoid that, in which case I couldn’t blame him.
Well done, Lil. I enjoyed reading and learning from this article.
No wonder I never found more of “Run” besides the trailer…. I’m curious about the “Silent Mountain” one.
Anyway, I think it’s cool that Skandar is so focused on his studies and doing extra things (ie: foreign correspondent) as well.