Advice: Auditioning For the Role of Jill Pole

Since the release of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, we at NarniaWeb have received almost daily inquiries about auditioning for the role of Jill Pole in The Silver Chair. After the release of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, these inquiries have risen to almost unbelievable levels. We wanted to take this opportunity to give some information about the film industry and answer the questions that folks may have about how to acquire a role.

Pre-Production and Greenlighting

Before casting begins for a film, there are several steps that take place. A script is written (or at least begun), the story is pitched to the studio, and the studio then “greenlights” the film, which means that the production is formally approved and financed. After the film is greenlit, it then enters pre-production, during which the script is finalized and plans are made for the actual shooting of the film. It is during this pre-production stage that casting is done.

Casting and Auditions

The casting process for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was somewhat unique in that casting director Pippa Hall held many public auditions when searching for the four Pevensie children. These auditions were generally held at schools around the UK, with children from the drama clubs being invited to attend. This is not typical, though, and usually a casting director will work directly with agents and industry contacts to come up with a list of potential actors to fill a specific role. Several actors are given auditions and the director and producers together decide which one will best play the part. This is the way that Will Poulter was cast for the role of Eustace.

Occasionally there will be open auditions for extras at a film location shoot. When that information becomes available we always post it at NarniaWeb.

Silver Chair Status

The future of the Narnia movies depends on the box office results for each film. If The Voyage of the Dawn Treader doesn’t do well enough in theaters, it is likely that there will not be any further Narnia films. If it is successful (and no one is sure exactly what the threshold of success is in the eyes of the studio), then Walden and Fox will likely move forward and attempt to get another Narnia film greenlit.

In interviews the producers have mentioned that they are considering The Silver Chair as well as The Magician’s Nephew for the next film. This could mean that The Silver Chair would be skipped or passed over temporarily, or that both films could be made at the same time. There are any number of possibilities, but the reality is that the future of the franchise and The Silver Chair is very much in limbo right now. It also goes without saying that production for The Silver Chair has not been greenlit and is not currently looking for any actors for the simple reason that there is no production.

Advice

If you are interested in auditioning for the role of Jill Pole or any other character in a Narnia film, the best advice that we can give is to 1) get involved with a local drama group to hone your skills and 2) hire an agent who can acquire an audition for you with the casting director when the time comes. There likely won’t be any public auditions. This is simply the way that Hollywood works.

Another question that we are often asked is about what the producers are looking for. Again, since there are no producers and no production (yet), we have no idea. During the casting process for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Pippa Hall was quoted as saying that she felt that there were so many brilliant British actors that there was no need to look for someone who could “fake” a British accent. So our expectation is that the producers would probably look to the UK first to fill the role of Jill Pole.

Conclusion

To sum this all up, The Silver Chair has not yet been greenlit so there are no roles yet to be filled. If you are interested in auditioning for a role when one becomes available, we recommend that you hire an agent who can acquire an audition for you when the time comes. Good luck!

1,747 Responses

  1. Narnia Wannabee says:

    Em you are soo blessed!!:) well everyone is actually. I am going to send a letter to Nina Gold and hopefully she can reply quick b/c I live in the USA like she does. Everything is going steady for me! I am getting some acting classes, my riding classes start back up this month, I am looking at a talent agency, and I am sending a letter to Nina Gold! So everything is falling into place!!!!! Yay!!

  2. Narnian Wannabee says:

    Archergirl I watched your youtube video
    and it was good. you just need better sound and ur sadness. yall need to watch georgie's audition it is totally awesome! she is a great actress.

  3. coolio says:

    where did u see georgies audition video?

  4. coolio says:

    do u know any good agencies i can join? I really want to audition but i dont want to join some rubbishy agency or a fraud one 🙂

  5. Narnian Wannabee says:

    on youtube it is super good

  6. Chrissie says:

    Yeah English as in British, I live in England.
    And yeah that's what I thought but apparently you have to pay to sign up to their books, and also for a photoshoot (I have look at those and they are also very expensive!) and a professional CV?

  7. archerygirlxx says:

    yay thankyou but what do you mean by sadness??? at which bit 😛 i know the sound is terrible and i saw georgie henleys auditions they are good!!

  8. archerygirlxx says:

    i am confused..so can i have the address??? i would really appreciate it!!

  9. TheRealEmilee says:

    Hey everyone The MN Is more than likely greenlit. So we will try for Jill laterrr:) This gives us more time to get an agent and stuff, but very sad at the same time, was looking forward to auditioning.

  10. TheRealEmilee says:

    Hey can you give me the link I want to watch it:) and your video is amazing btw.

  11. Lucia says:

    oh,thanks anyway**

  12. Lucia says:

    oh,ur really cute girl**
    & i think ur acting was very good!
    i want do that 4 HHB few years later**

  13. Lucia says:

    hey,i watched georgie's 1,& they were very good!
    i think u can "search" as "georgie henley audition".i found them in this way:)

  14. Lucia says:

    yes,it looks like so…
    but yes,u can find ur agents,get into acting classes,& mayb can try4 another movies as extras & make ur skills great**
    well,afterall,i'll d my best2 learn english & save money & go2 uk when they make HHB!!!

  15. Lucia says:

    hey,does any1 help me…?
    i know this is sooo stupid question,but…does youtube cost when we login…???

  16. TheRealEmilee says:

    No its free.

  17. TheRealEmilee says:

    Well yea but that might be bad to. I was thinking Im 16 now by the time SC is made I will be to old,maybe unless I look young which I look like im really 14??haha.:)

  18. Lucia says:

    but i think ur acting skill will cover ur age***
    it's alright!!!

  19. Lucia says:

    oh,really!
    thak u 4 ur telling,Emilee!

  20. Lucia says:

    hey,does any1 think "casting call pro" will help me???

  21. coolio says:

    wait, do u mean theyre making magicians nephew first, then the silver chair? i theought it was silver chair next?

    so confused! 🙂

  22. coolio says:

    yh i watched it, the one for the extriacte or something like that. it was totally awesome! she fake crys really well!

  23. Narnia #1 Fan says:

    Hahaha!! No, I was just wondering if it was real, or a REALLY good fake one. 🙂

  24. TheRealEmilee says:

    Hey(: Well yea thats whats everyone is saying. So yea MN will prob be next then who knows.

  25. TheRealEmilee says:

    Hey everyone. I going to put a video on youtube.com tomorrow on how to get an agent, what your resuma and headshot should look like and also good auditioning tips!:) Ill post the link on here tomorrow:)

  26. Narnia #1 Fan says:

    Thanks Emilee! I'm really looking forward to it!

  27. TheRealEmilee says:

    No Problem!:) Hope it helps!=D

  28. Narnia #1 Fan says:

    Are you going to show yourself? I would love to see you, because they (Nina Gold) say you look like a Jill Pole!

  29. Lucia says:

    oh,that's cool!
    i want2 c u there if dad allow me2 use facebook!

  30. Lucia says:

    wow,how nice!!
    i will watch it…oh,but wait.
    "tomorrow"in ur country can b "today"in mine!
    i have2 watch it!!!

  31. lis narnia says:

    Ok!

  32. lis narnia says:

    Thanks

  33. coolio says:

    have u posted it yet? im looking forward to watching it!

  34. archerygirlxx says:

    ooh how exciting will you do a monologue as well???

  35. Narnia #1 Fan says:

    When will you post it????

  36. Narnia #1 Fan says:

    Yay! I just got Narnia The Voyage of the Dawn Treader soundtrack in the mail!!! It is soooo amazing!!!

  37. TheRealEmilee says:

    Hey guys:) Yea I will show myslef. Im going to upload it in an hour and a half:)

  38. TheRealEmilee says:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/Sarah27168?feature=mhum
    There is the link to watch my video:) Btw I had my wisdom teeth removed that is why my face is so fat:)hahah! Sorry It took me a very long time to upload it:) Leave comments:)

  39. Narnia #1 Fan says:

    Hey, I watched it! Thanks for making that! Culd you make one of Jill Pole… like saying her lines or something?? 🙂 Great job!

  40. TheRealEmilee says:

    Hey yea:) I will make one! Thanks!

  41. Narnia #1 Fan says:

    🙂 Thanks! You will put a link to it on here, right?

  42. TheRealEmilee says:

    Yea of course.

  43. Lucia says:

    @Emilee,
    wow,ur REALLY jill!!
    i couldn't understand all of it(cuz i am not native english speaker:),but i'll watch it 1more time!!!
    & i want2 ask u this;d u know "casting call pro"??
    d u think it'll help me???

  44. TheRealEmilee says:

    Hey(: Thanks(:
    Um I have heard of it! Im not sure what is really does , but I mean try it. It can't do any harm just good:) And sorry I should have been more clear.

  45. TheRealEmilee says:

    Hey here is a link my agent sent me on THINGS NOT TO DO and then THINGS TO DO when auditioning.
    http://www.helenwheels.net/for_actors_only
    Hope this helps. Please watch my video I posted a link to ealier and tell me what you think.

  46. Narnia #1 Fan says:

    Thanks Em!

  47. TheRealEmilee says:

    Your welcome=D Hope it helped!

  48. Lucia says:

    oh,no.it was enough clear!it is just a problem of my english
    skill**don't worry,Emilee!

    Well,about casting call pro,i sign-uped their site.there r many informations 2get an agent & it looks they work world wide.

  49. Lucia says:

    wow,nice link!

  50. TheRealEmilee says:

    OOh wow(: Well I hope it helps you out:)

  51. TheRealEmilee says:

    Thanks:) Hope it helped!!

  52. coolio says:

    hey ur american!;) i didnt know that! hope u post one as jill pole and then i can hear ur english accent! is ur accent good?

  53. lis narnia says:

    Hey thank you!
    I saw your video. It was really good! Where are you come from? I thought you live in uk..?

  54. Lucia says:

    Hey,i asked grandma2 help me last Saturday.& she said"i don't know how i can help u,but i'll try2 look up some1 can b ur gurdian in uk!"
    she didn't crush my dream,afterall!!!

  55. lis narnia says:

    That is really coll for you!:)

  56. lis narnia says:

    sorry I menat: cool!

  57. Narnia #1 Fan says:

    🙁 I still haven't heard back from the agent. 🙁 Now what should I do???

  58. Lucia says:

    oh,it's alright!
    hey,did the agent which u wrote write back to u??
    about me…No…they never write back.
    hummm,it looks i have to look up other ways!

  59. Lucia says:

    Oh,really?how long is it taking??
    mayb you should try2 others i think,but i'm not sure.

  60. Lucia says:

    Hey,my friends!
    let's keep posting though it looks MN will make first*
    We can help each other through this page,u know!!
    Does any1 have news???