Timothée Chalamet as Mr. Tumnus? James McAvoy Thinks It’s Perfect
In a recent interview with MTV at San Diego Comic-Con, James McAvoy shared his thoughts on the fan casting of Timothée Chalamet as Mr. Tumnus in Netflix’s new adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia. McAvoy, who famously played the faun in the 2005 Disney/Walden Media film The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, offered his perspective on the idea.
When asked about the possibility, McAvoy noted, “He’s already turned up at red carpets dressed as Tumnus,” referencing Chalamet’s unique fashion choices at Venice Film Festival in 2022.
McAvoy continued, “He’s a shoo-in. Listen, it’s a small part, it’s a cameo role. If his ego’s okay taking that small part, he’d be perfect I’m sure.”
Increased speculation of Chalamet’s involvement comes as Greta Gerwig, the acclaimed writer/director of Lady Bird and Little Women (two films that Chalamet starred in), is now in pre-production on her first of two new Narnia movies for Netflix. Gerwig has a history of working with similar sets of actors across multiple projects.
Earlier this year, Saoirse Ronan revealed that she’d already asked Gerwig for a role in Narnia, “even if I’m just making tea in Narnia. I don’t really care.”
Tumnus appears in 3 of Lewis’ Narnia books. Here’s everything we know about Netflix’s Narnia series.
Do you agree with McAvoy’s assessment? Could Timothée Chalamet be a fit for Tumnus? Visit our discussion forums and suggest who you think should take on the role!
Personally I just don’t see him fitting the character of Tumnus. I’m not sure why exactly I just don’t think it’s a super great fit. If I could cast one person I’d cast Johnny Depp for the role of Uncle Andrew.
3 years ago it would’ve been genius casting. But at this point in his career, it would just be distracting to see him on screen in the role. I’ll pass.
I’m all-in on Saoirse Ronan in Narnia though!
After seeing Lady Bird, Little Women, Wonka and the two Dune films, it is clear that Chalamet is an excellent actor, with a broad range, so I would be happy with him being Tumnus. However, I did enjoy seeing a lot of unknown faces in Walden’s ‘Lion’ movie, so it would be nice to see some unknown faces.
I wrote this comment above earlier, and I have just had the chance to read Impending Doom’s comment, and I agree. It would be nice to not be thinking, “Look! It’s Timthothee Chalamet!”
Re: What others have said. Yeah, movie stars can be great but it’s nice to see someone new. I’m eternally grateful that Steven Spielberg cast Jeremy Irvine as the (human) lead in War Horse (2011) even though he wasn’t a big star at the time. (I don’t even know if he’s a star now actually.) I feel like if they had cast anyone else, that movie wouldn’t have worked. As it is, it’s endeared itself to me over the years until it’s a favorite of mine.
He’s getting way too overexposed with the Jenner Kardashians it’s going to damage his Career and reputation. As it already has. He should protect his brand and get away from Kylie as soon as possible. They’ll want him because they are dying breed and he is up and coming, but they’re going to drag him down with them.
Obviously this is just one actor praising another and doesn’t mean anything, but it speaks to one of my personal concerns with Gerwig at the helm (and I’ve been largely optimistic about her making these films). While not true of all her work, she does seem to like to put recognizable faces and big stars in roles both brief and major. She also likes to use the same actors over and over across her films.
Please no. One of the best things about the Walden films was the casting of lesser known (or totally unknown) actors. I really hope we don’t get stunt casting. No matter their talent, overexposed celebrities stick out like sore thumbs the more I see of them. Don’t we want to see new actors get a shot? Or actors who have been on the scene for a while but have yet to have a “moment”?
Oh, and, I know it’s playing pretend and all, but for the most part I’d kind of prefer we have genuine English actors populate Narnia (Irish and Scottish actors are welcome too). We Americans don’t have the best track record with English accents. (I’ll never understand why Michael Madsen was cast to play Maugrim in the Walden LWW, didn’t even try, just played a random gruff American wolf in Narnia.)
As Mr. Tumnus? I’d say pretty much anyone else would be my prefrence. Maybe’s there’s another role but not Tumnus. No offense.
I agree that I would prefer only British and Irish people to be the actors in Narnia. I heard a story, that when Rowling signed the flim rights of Harry Potter over to WB, she stipulated that the actors must be British. And I can’t think of a single actor in Harry Potter who was American, Canadian or Australian.
I was honestly hoping they’d go with an older actor… that would help it stand out from the Walden series.
I agree with Cleander.
Just so that we can feel that the series is doing something different.
Tumnus should be an older actor.
Fingers crossed we get an accurate portrayal of the small stature of fauns in these films, too. They’re “only a little taller than Lucy herself” and “were not much taller than dwarfs” (according to LWW & PC).
No. Just no. First of all, because he’s not British, that’ll make him offering tea not fit as well. Also, I know James McAvoy was young when cast as Mr. Tumnus but still looked very much like an adult, while Timothee Chalamet looks was too young. I don’t think Tumnus should be very old, as I agree with the Walden filmmakers that that could come off as creepy, but he can’t look like a heartthrob in his twenties either. That and I think Timothee Chalamet is highly overrated.
I agree with everyone that they should cast mostly unknowns since Narnia is a known brand that doesn’t need many big names to carry value.
@Just Queen, not High Queen, for the record, non-British people drink tea too. Me for example.
My main concern is Gerwig turning the whole thing into some feminist rant about the patriarchy and removing God from the entire equation.
This might seem strange but I could see Tom Hanks playing Tumnus! He’s played many different roles. Plus like Cleander said an older actor like Tom Hanks might suit the character!
Also I agree with Jake I’m worried about how they’ll deal with the religious side of Narnia!
He’s the main character in every movie these days, please don’t cast him in Narnia. I’m cool if he’s a voice actor for a Talking Animal though!
I’d prefer to see a new/unknown actor in this role, personally.