New Narnia Casting Call Hints At Story Details
The search for the film’s child leads continues, but it has now expanded to include three characters.
NarniaWeb has obtained and independently verified the authenticity of a new casting call for Netflix’s Narnia film, which is scheduled to begin filming this July in the United Kingdom.
Casting Directors Francine Maisler (US) and Nina Gold (UK) are now looking for children aged 9-12 to play three key roles in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew. The call went out to agencies in North America on Friday, but each role requires an authentic British accent.
All three roles are listed as a “lead”, though it’s not yet clear which book characters they correspond to.
- Boy One: 9-12 year old, British boy of Indian descent (Indian father, white mother)
- Boy Two: 9–12 year old, British, described as an “important character”
- Girl: 9-12 year old, British, described as an “important character”
When we first reported on the initial casting search back in January, the call was focused on finding two children (aged 10–11) for the “important roles” in the film. The new call expanded that to a third role and adjusted the age range slightly. As previously shared, NarniaWeb has received a copy of the script excerpt being used for auditions.
You can read the dialogue here.
In the book, Digory’s father is away in India during the events of The Magician’s Nephew and it seems to imply, at the very least, that he’s been living there for an extended period, possibly for work.
One possible interpretation in light of this new information is that Boy 1, described as being of Indian heritage, could be playing Digory. This however would raise further questions about the identity of Boy 2, who is described as being of equal significance to the role of Girl 1, who is presumably Polly.
Have a scoop or inside information about Netflix’s Narnia production? You can send in an anonymous Spy Report here. Special thanks to “João” for the tip.
I think Boy 2 could be a young version of Uncle Andrew… Perhaps an opening flashback scene involving Mrs. Lefay?
Maybe Boy 2 is the voice of Strawberry?
maybe greta has in mind for old Proffesor kirke to tell peter the story in a series of flashbacks
I think I’m more inclined to believe that Boy 2 and Girl 1 are for Digory and Polly respectively, if only because their.roles are described in fairly equal terms, and their description lines up better with the two roles from.the UK casting call – which we’ve already seen manifested as Isadore and Frannie in the auditions (neither of which have had any specific ethnicity requirements).
Boy 1 is the outlier, and I just don’t know what to make of.it….. Digory’s long lost half brother that his father brings back from India?
At this stage, I think almost all bets are off when it comes to second guessing the fidelity to the books.
Chances Boy One and Two are the same? Seeing if they can source two options of differing backgrounds to see which one the “screen” likes better?
This last week has turned everything we thought we knew about this film on it’s head. I’m honestly not surprised that there could be a 3rd lead child actor at this point. What’s next? Lol. I’d much rather take that over last weeks casting news.
I’ve lost close to all confidence this will be a faithful adaptation. Even if the book is totally changed, I believe in Greta as a storyteller, so it may be a good film, even if it has very little resemblance to the book. Which it would make me very upset if it’s a fantastic film but doesn’t honor Lewis and the original story.
Maybe Polly is now a sister-brother duo who meet Digory. Or maybe Jadis has a son who is the real villain of the story. I fear that just about any travesty is possible at this point. :((
@Nick
Great call — I can easily see that being the case! If they aren’t able to find their ideal lead for “Boy 1” then they can always fall back on the another pool of candidates.
The most potentially acceptable explanation is that the third child is Frank and Helen’s son. Such a change could range anywhere from “misguided but fine” to disastrous, depending on the nature and extent of his part in the story.
Taking it at face value, Greta is doing us yet another solid and creating a brand new character. I’d rather have no new narnia movie, than another “Rings of Power-esque” glorified “fan” fiction. Gerwig, now we know why you had nightmares… He’s not a tame Lion, after all.
I’m totally fine if Digory is reimagined as a person of Indian origin. It ultimately won’t change the story as the story is mainly how the Professor as a boy brought the White Witch to Narnia at the beginning.
As for another boy being an “important character,” could this possibly be Peter or Edmund or even Eustace in a framing sequence to set this up as a “flashback” story? The Last Battle says that the Friends of Narnia were trying to find the rings to get back to Narnia as they felt they were needed, perhaps there’s going to be a little more linking the stories together in the Netflix adaptation.
@Nick
I think the same as you. I think boy one and boy two are the same person.
At face value, this isn’t very promising. Three young children? A “new” character? Potential forced diversity? I have no problem with diversity in its proper place, but this feels like another sign of drifting away from Lewis’ original story.
As of now, Greta Gerwig and Netflix don’t seem particularly concerned with respecting fans or Lewis’ vision. But time will tell. Perspective is everything.
Could this possibly be Casting for VOTDT? Because they do have 3 main characters. The main problem to this guess is that the chances of VOTDT to be adapted again is not as much since it has been adapted and that it was said that the “first book” was going to be adapted. But if they’re making diggory indian I don’t quite mind as the story won’t change as much. Only time will tell.
I’m with Impending Doom on this one. I believe boy 2 has got to be a young Uncle Andrew. It makes the most logical sense unless they’re adding a character not from the story. However I would look forward to seeing a flash black of child Andrew with Lefay.
I agree with Impending Doom and DaughterOfTheStar that a young Uncle Andrew is most probable, considering that the backstory of Mrs. Lefay is such rich aspect of Uncle Andrew’s character. The only other idea I could come up with aligns more with Eustace et Peccator’s, with the boy being the son of Helen and Frank, who would then go on to become “Frank II”.
I just have to stress that while things feel strange at the moment, with new casting revelations that may feel strange, I trust Greta Gerwig in whatever she’s putting together and we might be pleasantly surprised by how things come to be. Right now, we’re just terrified of the unknown.
(On a separate note, I’m more concerned about the casting of Charlie XCX than the possible gender-swapping of Aslan)
I don’t want this theory to be crazy, but what if this Indian child is Aravis?
We could assume that someone will be telling her the story of how Narnia was formed and that would lead to the next adaptation being the horse and his boy.
Or it’s just digory and the British boy is Edmund. Digory telling Edmund about the mistake with the White Witch so that Edmund will let go of his guilt.
I honestly think the third child can be cast to play Strawberry/Fledge! It would be nice! But maybe a background story about Uncle Andrew
I’m not even going to bother speculating on who the third child is this early on. It’s a casting call for actors… they’re not going to give away character identities or point out which ones have more significance or more lines. I don’t think they would add a major character for those worried.
But I do really dig the idea of Digory being partially Indian so at least that’s a positive for me!
@ Dgussty + @ Cal
there are still too many signs that point towards it being The Magician’s Nephew. Perhaps it’s original character being added but I suspect we won’t know until many months from now when filming starts and the cast is announced or set photos start being leaked.
Not a problem for me if Digory is cast as Indian or part-Indian… that’s where his father was working anyway. But I think Nick has a good guess that they’re feeling out the part with different ideas.
Now, if they could get ASLAN cast correctly, I might be happy.
If Digory is half-Indian, that’s fine, I guess, although it seems a bit arbitrary to me unless there’s some specific reason it effects the plot. I have no idea who the third child actor is supposed to be. Of the suggestions I see above, the idea I like the best is Strawberry. They might want to make the adventure set in Narnia more central to the “Narnia” movie. In that case, Strawberry could be a more major character, and since “Fledge” is basically a newborn, it kind of works, I think.
That said, after the Meryl Streep news, I’m beginning to lose faith in the production.
British people having links to India is also part of two of my favourite classic children’s stories: A Little Princess and The Secret Garden (both written by Frances Hodgson Burnett). The ‘princess’ had grown up in India and so had the girl in The Secret Garden. On that topic, I have still not seen the 2020s version of the latter. The trailer showed it added a fire sequence not in the book (unless it is a dream?). I like the 1990s Warner Bros version.
I had forgotten the part in the book about Digory’s father being in India.
I just had an idea how this news could not only make sense but also salvage the disastrous Aslan casting. What if Streep is playing en elderly Susan who is narrating the story to her grandson, Boy #1 ? They would be main roles since they could carry through all 7 books. And when she describes Aslan speaking, we hear her voice, because that’s how the boy experiences the story. If done well, could actually be more respectful of Aslan’s role in the story.
[Puddleglum voice] Not that I have any confidence things will turn out that well.
Are we sure this is Narnia’s casting call, because ngl it seems more like Harry Potter’s, considering the ‘British’ emphasis and one latest leak regarding that on a reddit sub was that Harry is going to be Brown.
I understand what Greta might be trying to do by making Digory half-Indian (the book did say that Digory’s father was in India, even though I got the impression that he was a British man working for the government). I’ve got absolutely nothing against Indians, but I’ve never imagined Digory as anything but a white British boy– and if Digory is an Indian child then the Professor in LWW will also be Indian! I hope they stick to the books. Or at the very least, not drag politics into the movie by making other discriminate against Digory because of his race. That would take away from the story, the point of which is learning the consequences of your actions.
I’m confused about who the second boy is. I think it will be Uncle Andrew as a boy, but unless there are flashbacks distributed through the movie I wouldn’t call him an important character. Someone suggested that Boy 2 might be Frank and Helen’s son. I’d actually be really interested in seeing that, but I certainly wouldn’t want him as one of the lead characters! That would be distorting the story.
All that said, I’m less upset about this than I am about Aslan being FEMALE. I’d rather stick to the book, but if Aslan is male like he is in the book I might be able to enjoy the movie regardless of the other changes. Of course I won’t know until I see it (which I won’t if Aslan is gender-swapped).
Could we please have a podcast discussing the new casting calls and rumors? I’m not a member of Narniaweb but I’m a Narnia geek. I listen to the podcast every single day while I do my schoolwork, and until there is a new episode I have to keep listening to the old ones. I’ve gone back as far as The Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie news (and I think the movie was made before I was born!).
Hmm, well Digory does mention in the book that his father is away in India, and at the time the book takes place, India actually belonged to England. CS Lewis obviously would have known about it.
So maybe Digory was born in India to English parents, or maybe one of his parents was born in India to English parents? CS Lewis never explicitly stated. I think that should be interesting to see where they’ll go with this.
I really wouldn’t mind Digory being of Indian descent as long as it doesn’t feel forced. And then Polly could have a brother? I don’t know. I always liked the duo of Polly and Digory, but as long as it fits the storyline (which I honestly can’t see but we also don’t know what Greta’s “breaking of the arch” is), I’d survive that too.
How would people feel if the second boy was, as some have suggested, the voice of Strawberry/Fledge? I’ve never really considered his age as a factor.
As far as I am concerned, Netflix Narnia is dead on arrival. If they are not going to respect the source material and make a faithful adaptation, then there is no point in seeing the film.
I named my daughter Narnia named after the books. They were my favorite books when I was a kid. I’d love to be in a Narnia movie. But I am older.
Shara Dell, I’m glad you love Narnia, and it is a beautiful name for your daughter.
So Boy 1 is possibly Digory and then Boy 2 is either a young Uncle Andrew in flashbacks or Polly’s brother? Those possibilities others have already suggested are the only things I have thought of without major alterations to the plot.
Could the Indian descent boy be Shasta and they’re filming back to back on Horse & His Boy? If so there would need to be a casting call for Aravis coming up.
How do i apply for this?
How old are these characters supposed to be? Because it sounds like they are casting really young on this one?
Hi can you send more details my daughter is 11 years old and would love to apply. From uk.
if i remember correctly ,Digory’s mother appears to be European in one of the illustrations .but do we have an illustration of Digory’s father?
Also Prof. Kirke is always portrayed as European
Shasta is from Archenland…..his real name is Cor
strawberry is described as the son of a fine cavalry horse , so either a gelding or a stallion, but i wouldn’t have thought of him as a colt .
if boy 1 is Uncle Andrew in flashback , then UA as an adult would be of Indian descent as well
Whatever they are doing, its not gonna be accurate to the books and they are going to ruin the analogy to the Bible {MODERATOR REMOVED}
Yeah, definitely not an adaptation for the fans of the books. Sure, Gerwig might be a successful filmmaker now but so was Chloe Zhao and then she made that disastrous Eternals movie. Coppola also made terrible films.
G
Goated
These updates all make it hard to believe that the films “won’t be counter” to what we have imagined. There is so much detail and beauty in The Magician’s Nephew that I don’t understand why it needs to be added to or changed. I sometimes feel film makers worry about coming across as boring or lacking originality if they make a straight adaption, but purity is what this film needs. Let’s hope.
I’ve read all the books and movies and their going to ruin it
@E I kind of get what you’re saying. Yet I acknowledge that there are things in the books that are although well written would have to require some changes for film.
I suspect MN will have some changes or additions that could really add to the story. Though I think adding a third main character might be stretching it.
Oh boy. I am truly hoping that they aren’t adding a third character. I’ve lost all faith in this adaptation now.
I think that there’s going to be a little epilogue at the end of the movie leading on to the next part of the series
My name wasn’t allowed in Narnia it’s
Here on the wind power of the hunters. The son of Jadis at circes’ feast. It was maddening to me as a teenager how far and tormenting my name can hear itself.