Should Millie Bobby Brown Play Jill in The Silver Chair? Here’s What We Think… | Talking Beasts
Millie Bobby Brown plays ‘Eleven’ in Stranger Things
Hours after the rumor hit that Stranger Things star Mille Bobby Brown has been offered a role in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair, NarniaWeb podcasters recorded their initial reactions. (Since this is such a hot topic, we are releasing this episode a few days early)
They also discussed new comments from Director Joe Johnston. He announced their intention to begin filming late next year, called The Silver Chair the darkest book in the series, and emphasized his desire for this movie to not feel connected to the previous films.
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Not really sure.Reading book, i was imagining Jill diffirent. I think it will be better for unknowns.But then aqain one of the most talented kid actor on dek these days so she will deliver.
A early podcast? What a nice surprise! I wouldn't have any problem if Brown was cast as Jill. She's great on Stranger Things and I think she could make a good Jill.
I kind of get the feeling this is old news and she passed on the role already, but I guess we'll see.
Right now my feelings on Silver Chair are somewhere between cautiously optimistic and neutral. I'm excited about David Magee, and Joe Johnston while not a great director is a pretty solid one. But I'm still waiting to see exactly what direction thier going story wise before I get to excited or down on the film.
I could see a good reason to cast a known actress as Jill. In fact, this is why I was so positive to the news.If you were worried about not getting a big enough audience, a known actress could help. If you had a known actress, the audience would get bigger just to see her role and acting, therefore you would not have to worry and you could focus on other things. If the known names bring in the money and audience, you could do make the kind of movie you want and make it the way you want and yet still bring in audience. I have no problem if they just want to bring in audience and frankly at this stage anyone to me looks like Jill as long as she has brown hair, is a child and is British.
'Silver Chair' is my 2nd favorite Narnia book after 'Lion'. Personally, I would prefer unknowns as the two child actors cast as Eustace and Jill in 'The Silver Chair' (and young ones at that – 9-12 yrs old), but I understand that 'The Silver Chair' is a less iconic, much lesser known book than 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', so, maybe, the advertising people cannot excite average people simply because it is a Narnia movie. 'Prince Caspian' and 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' had a similar problem. This new film has to sell the movie to audiences going to the movies now, and I hope it does not mean an unknown actor could not play the a main role.
Thing is if she was offered the role it's possible that she's already snatched it. Sometimes you can't announce the news of casting too early. Just a theory since the regular schedule for filming was supposed to take place late this year from what I read. Now they're waiting for next summer- winter. So that's after they finish filming season 3. Again a theory. I actually would love to see Millie as Jill.
I WOULD love to see Millie Brown as Jill too. And maybe Louis Hynes as Eustace (another talented Netflix British teen actor). It's their 14-17 year age that is troubling. Assuming 'The Silver Chair' charts the way for more Narnia movies, they'd be like 20-25 years old by the time 'The Last Battle' gets made! "You are too old" – Aslan
Ruby Barnhill
Honestly, I do not know what to think about Brown as Jill. The actress plays very well, but for me Jill has always been a fair-haired girl with a strong personality. And in fact, if they characterize Brown as in "Intruders", she would be ideal for Julia. Personally, my candidate for the role was Kylie Rogers, whom we could see in the movie "Miracles from Heaven".
M.B.Brown in "Intruders":
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BMzE0MDk0ODg0Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMDQ2NDc1MjE@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,1502,1000_AL_.jpg
Kylie Rogers:
https://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/onceuponatime8042/images/4/4c/InfoboxKyR.png/revision/latest?cb=20170430212424
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZjYyMjQ2ODYtYjIxNC00MTNhLTlhNzQtMjJlMmEwYTJjYjE0XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjg1ODM0MzA@._V1_.jpg
Honestly, I do not know what to think about Brown as Jill. The actress plays very well, but for me Jill has always been a fair-haired girl with a strong personality. And in fact, if they characterize Brown as in "Intruders", she would be ideal for Julia. Personally, my candidate for the role was Kylie Rogers, whom we could see in the movie "Miracles from Heaven".
I never got around to commenting on the last podcast so this'll be a long one.
I think it's nice to cast unknown actors in main roles once in a while. The movie, "War Horse", cast a non-star in the main non-horse role, and I think if they'd cast someone else, I think the movie would have either been bad or had to fight an uphill battle. But a lot of the time popular actors are popular because they're talented, and that's the important thing. So I'd rather they cast lesser known kids like the Walden movies, I'll learn to live with it. (While I'm talking about casting, may I just say I wish they'd cast Tony Shalhoub as Puddleglum?)
I was assuming before now that they wouldn't use anything from the old movies. It wouldn't be very practical since those movies aren't a big part of pop culture, and I'm not even sure if they'd have the rights since it's a different studio. That being said, I love the costumes and props and sets from the Walden movies, and I doubt that this movie's production will improve on them. I kind of wish I could see what Underworld and Harfang would have looked like in the Walden universe.
This might be controversial, but I wasn't particularly impressed with either "Finding Neverland" or "The Life of Pi." I didn't hate them or anything, but I doubt I'll ever watch them again. I'm fine with the choice of David Magee as the screenwriter for "The Silver Chair." But I wouldn't really mind if his script were rewritten.
I'm OK with "The Silver Chair" movie being dark. I think the book has a lot of potentially depressing story elements, and a relatively grim environment for the middle section. That being said….when I was a kid, I felt like all fairy tale movies were either really dark and gritty and adult or really bright and chipper and Disneyfied. I'd like it if the Narnia movies could provide fantasy movies for kids who don't like their movies to be either particularly dark or particularly bright.
Just like LOTR, they are not particularly dark and particularly bright, a right balance.
I never seen Finding Neverland, but seen Life of Pi, and I love it, it's the 1st Ang Lee's movie I like, when I heard it's the writer of Life of Pi is going to write for The Silver Chair, I'm really…. can't describe how excited I was. 🙂
Wonder Woman 2's release date just moved from December 2019 to November 2019 so maybe now Silver Chair can announce an early December date?
YESSS!
In response to Glumpuddle's question… I'm cautious when Johnston tries to distance this movie from the others a lot because I'm afraid it won't feel like Narnia, and it will lose it's sense of realism/plausibility. I loved the feel and tone of the first two films and how Narnia felt like a totally real and plausible world. Besides the Green Mist, and the Seven swords, I think my biggest problem with Dawn Treader is that it felt so different from the first two movies. It feels more like a fairytale/Oz style world that one would dream about but not actually see. The sound track change made this eve more jarring, and one could even tell that the style of the actors had changed. I don't mind the reboot idea in and of itself, but I want a Narnia movie that makes me wonder about the wardrobe door in my grandparents' house, or the garden door in an old courtyard… A want a Narnia movie that makes it feel like Narnia actually exists out there somewhere and not like the characters got hit too hard in the head by a window pane. There are fantasy stories that are meant to be more dream like, but to me Narnia was never one of them.
That being said I am cautiously optimistic about this film. Even if it is drastically different from the other two, I think I can still enjoy it if it feels like Narnia could be a real place.
The 1st 2 films was good, I like the tone as well, but honestly it's still far from and different than what I imagine when I 1st time reading Narnia books. So… I think maybe it's good thing that Joe Johnston decided to make it different, maybe this different thing will make it more close to what I imagine the 1st time I read these books. I'm happy with this, maybe he is the right director I always hope for. 🙂
I've let go of my hope for continuity for the Narnia film series. At this point, it will be nearly a decade in-between Dawn Treader and Silver Chair. And you've already pointed out the already disjointed feeling the third film felt from the other two. With all of this in mind, a fresh start makes the most sense to me, especially if it produces a stronger film. Johnston seems to think it will.
Millie Bobbie Brown has just disclosed that she is hearing impaired (deaf in one ear). And suddenly, I really want to see her play Jill Pole, and I hope the movie is great! https://www.glamour.com/story/millie-bobby-brown-opens-up-about-being-deaf-in-one-ear
I do feel that the Silver Chair is really dark. It was the only BBC version of Narnia I saw, and I was pretty much scarred for life when I saw that plush/plastic? snake's head being chopped maimed … and it is very depressing. Like you guys said, I hope they -use- that darkness and even the dullness and tiredness of the journey at times. As long as they stay essentially true to the book, I don't think I mind if they want to do a new 'trilogy' and have nothing be the same as the first three. Maybe I feel that if they do take a movement away from the first too far, Aslan's role as the ever-present background figure could possibly be lessened? As long as they establish that well (because of course, later on, everything hinges on him). However, Jill having never been to Narnia and Eustace mostly only on the sea does seem to set the scene for a new start.