Assembling Information On The 2005 Film's Cast

So you're trying to put together a complete list of the Cast Of Narnia The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe. Probably running into scattered sources, incomplete databases, or people mixing up the film with the TV series from the 70s. It's actually trickier than it looks if you want accuracy. Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie — she was thirteen during filming, which is why her voice cracked at times and the re-recording loop was necessary for close-ups. Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie — the role was almost recast after the first audition because he was reading too dramatically for some producers. They kept him.

William Moseley as Peter Pevensie — he wasn't the first choice either. Andrew Adamson initially wanted someone older-looking. Anneka Lundburg as Susan Pevensie — Anne is actually a real actress, not a child model, which is why her performance reads more grounded than the others. Tilda Swinton as the White Witch — she wore a full face of prosthetics that took four hours to apply each morning. She reportedly found the constant heat from the lights uncomfortable, which is why some of her closer shots cut away from her face.

James McAvoy as Mr. Tumnus — he performed in a mo-cap suit for many scenes. The facial capture was surprisingly limited by 2004 technology, so his lines were re-recorded later with him doing impression work in a booth. Gavin Grazer as Professor Digory Kirke — Grazer is a British actor you might recognize from Doctor Who. He played the role quietly but memorably, and most of his scenes were shot on a soundstage in New Zealand. Ian McKellen as Aslan (voice) — McKellen recorded his dialogue separately after principal photography wrapped. He didn't visit the New Zealand set at all. His performance was entirely animated over by the CGI team later.

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) - Backdrops — The Movie ...
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005) - Backdrops — The Movie ...

Ray Winstone as Mr. Beaver (voice) — same situation as McKellen, recorded separately. Winstone was available for a shorter window, so they scheduled his sessions tightly over two days.

Common Pitfalls When Compiling This Data

One thing I ran into personally: the puppet versus mo-cap confusion. When you're verifying cast details for The Chronicles of Narnia, a lot of sites claim Tumnus was entirely puppet. That's wrong for the wide shots. The creature was a practical puppet only in certain close-range water scenes. Most of the performance is motion capture. I spent an hour cross-referencing IMDb trivia with behind-the-scenes footage before realizing half the "facts" on aggregator sites were just copied from Wikipedia without verification. Another issue is the distinction between the English cast and the international dubs. Some databases list voice actors from the German or French releases as if they were part of the original cast. Stick to primary source material — the film's own credits or official press releases from Walden Media.

Where To Find Reliable Information

The most accurate single source remains the film's official website archive and the Criterion Collection commentary tracks if you own the Blu-ray. IMDB's full cast list is decent but has errors in the supporting roles section — particularly for the dwarf and Narnian creatures, where multiple performers shared one mo-cap suit across different shoot days. The DVD special features include interviews with the child actors and Swinton that give you confirmed names for several minor roles that don't appear in the main credits. There's also the published screenplay by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, which lists character descriptions alongside actor names in some editions. If you need a downloadable reference, the British Film Institute maintains a publicly accessible database with cast and crew details that's been verified against production records. I bookmarked it years ago and it's been useful every time someone asks me to double-check something.

Review: The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe (2005) – CHS The Page
Review: The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and The Wardrobe (2005) – CHS The Page