How The Cast Of Chronicles Of Narnia Should Really Look
The world of Narnia has captivated readers since British author C.S. Lewis launched his seven-book Chronicles of Narnia series in 1950. Three live-action film adaptations, starting with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe in 2005, helped to make Lewis' world a film destination for viewers of all ages.
While there were some changes between the books and the movies, the filmmakers mostly stuck to Lewis' original tales. However, there were some key differences between the actors cast in leading roles and the characters as Lewis described them in the books. Here's what the cast of The Chronicles of Narnia films should really look like—starting with Tilda Swinton's evil White Witch, the subject of the children's fears and fights throughout The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.
Lewis called the White Witch "a great lady, taller than any woman that Edmund had ever seen. She also was covered in white fur up to her throat and held a long straight golden wand in her right hand and wore a golden crown on her head. Her face was white—not merely pale, but white like snow or paper or icing-sugar, except for her very red mouth. It was a beautiful face in other respects, but proud and cold and stern."
Swinton is 5'11", so she fits with the towering stature required of the role. She also has the pale skin and the cold, stern face; however, the film's makeup artists chose to go with a pink or nude lipstick as opposed to the bright red described in the book. We've used Photoshop to offer a glimpse of what she might have looked like if they'd stayed a little closer to Lewis' description.
Movie accuracy: 9/10 - It's the decision of the makeup artists that leave this one just short of perfect.
Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley)
The Pevensies actually get some of the most minimal descriptions in the book, perhaps because Lewis is trying to allow children to place themselves in their shoes and see Narnia through their eyes. Still, there are a few details that separate the movie children from the book children.
In the book, Lucy doesn't get a physical description until she's a grownup, at which point Lewis says she "was always gay and golden-haired, and all princes in those parts desired her to be their Queen." Georgie Henley's Lucy has brown hair, which doesn't fit with the description or the book's illustrations, which show Lucy to be a blonde.
Movie accuracy: 7/10 - Henley has the character's innocence and charm down, but you need to make her hair blonde to fit with the book.
Edmund Pevensie (Skandar Keynes)
Edmund, the villainous child, is also said to be blonde, although actor Skandar Keynes in the film has brown hair. He is also said to have blue eyes, while Keynes' are brown.
The only other physical description Lewis provides for Edmund comes when he's betraying his family for the White Witch's Turkish Delight, at which point he says "his face had become very red and his mouth and fingers were sticky. He did not look either clever or handsome, whatever the Queen might say."
While Keynes is likely very clever and handsome in real life, he did a good job of pulling off the evil youngster persona.
Movie accuracy: 5/10 - Edmund is blond and blue-eyed in the books, as opposed to his dark hair and eyes in the film.
Peter Pevensie (William Moseley)
Peter also doesn't get much of a description until he's an adult, at which point Lewis says he is "a tall and deep-chested man and a great warrior." In the book's illustrations, he's usually pictured as having brown hair, while Moseley has dirty blonde locks.
Movie accuracy: 8/10 - If you make his hair a little bit darker, Moseley is a perfect Peter.
Susan Pevensie (Anna Popplewell)
Susan is described by Lewis as the beautiful one in the family, with the author writing that, as an adult, she became "a tall and gracious woman with black hair that fell almost to her feet and the kings of the countries beyond the sea began to send ambassadors asking for her hand in marriage."
Actress Anna Popplewell has long, dark brown hair (although at no point in the films does it fall almost to her feet) and the incredible beauty that Lewis describes for the character.
Movie accuracy: 9/10 - Her hair isn't floor-length, but other than that, Popplewell is perfect.
Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy)
C.S. Lewis' dream of the world of Narnia started with one image—a faun carrying parcels in a snowy wood. This faun, Mr. Tumnus, understandably gets a fair amount of description compared to other characters in the books.
"He was only a little taller than Lucy herself and he carried over his head an umbrella, white with snow," Lewis writes when Lucy first encounters him in the woods. "From the waist upwards he was like a man, but his legs were shaped like a goat's (the hair on them was glossy black) and instead of feet he had goat's hoofs. He also had a tail, but Lucy did not notice this at first because it was neatly caught up over the arm that held the umbrella so as to keep it from trailing in the snow. He had a red woollen muffler round his neck and his skin was rather reddish too. He had a strange, but pleasant little face, with a short pointed beard and curly hair, and out of the hair there stuck two horns, one on each side of his forehead." Lewis later adds that he has brown eyes.
James McAvoy's Mr. Tumnus has the goat legs, although the hair on them is brown rather than glossy black, likely to match his natural hair color. While he does have the curly hair Lewis discusses, his skin isn't "rather reddish" and his eyes are blue instead of brown.
Movie accuracy: 6/10 - There were a few differences in hair and eye color, but McAvoy still did a great job of embodying Lewis' vision for the character.
Aslan (Liam Neeson)
Being that Aslan is CGI in the film, the animators could easily tailor him to be exactly like Lewis' description, which is just about what they did. Lewis frequently references the lion's golden mane, also adding that he has "great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes" and a royal presence; the film's Aslan, meanwhile, is as noble and radiant as Lewis described, fitting with his portrayal as the motivator to the heroes of the story.
Movie accuracy: 10/10 - The film's depiction of Aslan is just about perfect.
Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes)
Like the Pevensies, Prince Caspian doesn't get much of a description. In The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, Lewis gives one of his only details about the Prince, saying he's "a golden-haired boy." This doesn't fit with Ben Barnes' dark-colored locks in the film.
The big difference between the two is in age. According to the books, Prince Caspian should be around 13 when the events of the Prince Caspian film take place. Barnes was 27, and, while he could pass for slightly younger, he definitely didn't look like a teenager.
Movie accuracy: 0/10 - Prince Caspian is supposed to be blonde and much younger, based on the books.
Trumpkin (Peter Dinklage)
Peter Dinklage's Red Dwarf Trumpkin wasn't quite as red as he was supposed to be. While Dinklage's version of the surly character featured sandy blonde hair, the character is actually described as having "an immense beard and whiskers of coarse red hair" that is "rather like a Fox's."
Lewis also says that he has "twinkling black eyes," not fitting with Dinklage's blue-green. He does have the "beak-like nose," which was added to Dinklage with prosthetics that were part of the nearly three-hour make-up process for the part.
Movie accuracy: 3/10 - Lewis pictured Trumpkin as a dark-eyed redhead, not blond with blue eyes.
Eustace Scrubb (Will Poulter)
Eustace Scrubb probably gets the best introduction of any book character ever with the first line of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader: "There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."
This line is one of the many ways that Lewis highlights Eustace's general intolerableness throughout the beginning of the book, which the author implies is manifested through his physical appearance, although not many specifics are given. While the character does grow throughout the story, Lewis at first describes him as "a puny little person who couldn't have stood up even to Lucy."
Will Poulter has experience playing insufferable characters, and he did a good job with it, embodying Eustace's persona well and fitting with the limited physical characteristics given. However, he was a little old for the part. The actor was 16 when the movie was filmed, while Eustace is only supposed to be nine. While he can pass for younger than mid-teens, the actor still didn't look quite as young as the character was supposed to be.
Movie accuracy: 7/10 - Poulter had Eustace's awful persona down, but he was still too old for the part.