The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
Die Chroniken von Narnia - Prinz Kaspian von Narnia
Interview with Ben Barnes
Ben Barnes
Ben Barnes is a veteran of the British stage. The 26-year-old U.K. native studied drama at Kingston University and played with the National Youth Music Theatre in various productions. Most recently, Barnes triumphed onstage again, winning rave reviews for his role of the charming, manipulative predator, Dakin, in Alan Bennett's award-winning play "The History Boys" which had its West End premiere at London's Wyndham's Theatre. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Barnes' has his first Hollywood motion-picture starring role.
OutNow.CH (ON): How was it for you to enter the world of Narnia? Have you seen the first movie before you got involved with the project?
Ben Barnes (BB): I saw it while I was auditioning, it was terrifying because it was so huge and I knew that if I was going to get it, it would be a big deal. But it was also very encouraging be-cause it all looks so fantastic.
ON: How does it feel to become a star?
BB: It is part of doing a film like this you have to learn as you go. There are some things that you will do next time and some things that you won’t. There’s no point in having any regrets because everything you do leads you to who you are. But obviously you want people to see the movie and see how hard everyone worked on it. Therefore you have to advertise it, but you have to trust the people who do it that they know what they are do-ing.
ON: Being on stage, have you thought about being in front of the camera?
BB: I was actively pursuing any acting job I could get. I was auditioning for films before, I just wasn’t getting parts (laughing). And I’ve done some films before it’s just that nobody has seen them. I’m gonna be promoting one pretty soon at the Edinburgh film festival that I shot two and a half years ago.
ON: How was the casting process, the auditioning?
BB: It was very quick, I was doing a play in London and the casting director saw me in the play and asked me to go the auditioning. A week later I was already doing a screen test and a week later I had the part. They rang me up in the middle of the night and I was really confused at first when they told me that I got the job, but then I was running up and down the stairs.
ON: Sound easy, but how did you convince them?
BB: I don’t know. I think just the general enthusiasm. And honestly, I think because they had run out of time, they just needed somebody. They were looking for a Mediterranean race so how they ended up with me I have no idea but I’m glad that they did.
ON: Did you fit in to the film family?
BB: Yeah, I mean it took me a while, but as soon as they had realized that they could tease me and play pranks on me it was fun.
ON: You seem like the perfect cast?
BB: Oh there are a lot of people that don’t agree with you. And especially at the beginning I really cared about that. You get reviews and half of them is fantastic and you are praised as wonderful and amazing and the other half says that you ruined Narnia, that you are terible and boring and you ask yourself the whole time: Who is right? So you kind of have to trust in yourself and have faith. I came home two days ago from all the promotion and there was this huge pile of mail and that’s what’s important, because it means the people go and see the movie. There was this 14 year old kid who wrote that he saw the movie twice and just loved it, that’s the actual reason you’re doing it, not some critic in middle America who doesn’t want to enjoy it anyway.
ON: So how are you going to tread all the fan mail?
BB: Well I will certainly have to open some of it, send some photos or I don’t know. I guess that is a sort of balance that I will learn as I go.
ON: Is there anything or anyone who prepares you for that part of the game?
BB: I have a really good team of people, an agent and a manager that I’m very close with. They are very good at what they’re doing and really have my best interest at heart and I have my family.
ON: Did you get used to seeing yourself on huge posters?
BB: No, Skandar’s mum gave me a copy of yesterday’s telegraph with a picture of me on the front page and it felt so strange. I remember when I took my parents and my brothers to the premiere in New York they were telling me about every billboard along the way and they were getting so excited about it.
ON: How about the toys?
BB: Well the video game just came out and I have all of my friends calling me and telling me, oh I killed you again, even Georgie does that. And the same with the action figures, I mean people smash them and throw them around the room, so that’s probably my destiny, in a dust bin somewhere, with one arm.
ON: Is there a difference between acting in classics and modernity?
BB: I think it depends on the story how close you think you fit and relate to the character and I think there is a trend for the ultra realism particularly at the moment with these really really true life conversations but I think that there’s no point in just doing realism for realism’s sake, people just sitting around and talking, then you could just go to a res-taurant and film people eating and talking. So there are some points about films that are quite interesting but for me I just have to take every script and character as it comes. But here particularly, I mean, I read the books when I was 8 years old and I do remember how I felt and that’s what I want to pass on.
ON: What did you learn of Narnia when you read it? What impressed you?
BB: It’s just this magical, escapist world. The creatures that you just want to be part of and I think when you’re 8 you don’t know why exactly, but you’re certainly looking up to Peter as the older brother and you want to be a bit like him, especially as the characters grow up in England. He just makes it relatable enough; I mean everyone has a wardrobe at home. But it’s also magic enough to escape into that world.
ON: Did you read the biblical?
BB: Today I think everybody does but at that age you don’t know what it’s there for.
ON: How do you feel about it?
BB: Obviously the imagery is very strong, we just had an instinct debate about it three rooms down but I don’t know, I think there were a lot of different messages in the Narnia stories and I feel it’s up to a reader or viewer to decide which ones apply to them. Obviously Caspian is a complex story, it’s about faith but whether that’s faith in the people around you, faith in the world you live in, faith in nature, environment, whether you want to name it and call it God? Maybe it’s just self believe? I think all of this answers have the same validity. It’s no up to the author to decide what message is in the story; it’s up to the reader. For me the political relations were very vivid, but interestingly nobody has picked up on that.
ON: And did you like the love interest being put in the movie?
BB: No I wasn’t, I mean, very straight away I said, I’m not sure about this as it is not in the book and you can’t just add it in. But we talked about how the actors were older and the characters were obviously aged up, in the midst of their adolescence, and especially for Susan and Peter, ‘cause they are not allowed to come back anymore as they have grown up and learnt whatever there was to learn. Therefore the scene represents the adolescence and is not so out of context. Still I was pleased that it was so subtle.
ON: And the rivalry between Caspian and Peter? That’s not in the book either?
BB: No, that is in the book, gently, but it is there and you have to make it that clear for people who haven’t read the book. Again I was pleased that that comes from the frustra-tion about the mistakes that they made, ‘cause they aren’t perfect, they are no superhe-roes, they are just boys.
ON: How much do you learn from the actors you work with?
BB: Well it was amazing working with them. I think I learned the most from Sergio. The way he would change from take to take, sometimes he would laugh, sometimes he would whisper, scream at me, and I never knew what was coming so I didn’t really have to act I was just reacting.
ON: How do you keep the ambiguity to your person until the end?
BB: Well I think he’s a person that hasn’t really been loved or cared for. He just comes from this military background, and is sort of indifferent.
ON: Did you prefer the testosterone part, the fighting part or the emotional part?
BB: The physical part is great, it’s fun and it’s part of the job. Obviously it was something I had to learn so that wasn’t the reason why I was chosen for the role cause it was some-thing I couldn’t do before. Therefore the other parts were more interesting as that was where I could really do my job.
ON: You worked on stage and in front of the camera, what kind of work do you prefer now?
BB: The two of them are so different; therefore it feels like two different jobs. With the film, two and a half hours take a year to make whereas on stage you get that same charac-ter every single night and you get the rehearsal time, the immediacy of the reaction from the audience but then again a movie lasts forever, so I really find it hard to choose.
ON: How do you feel watching yourself on screen?
BB: I hate it. The first time I saw it I missed the most of the film as I had my eyes covered with my hands, but the scenes where I wasn’t were very good. I enjoyed it more the seond time when I watched it with my family, it felt more ok and I got more lost in the story. It is very hard to forget everything and not just see yourself in the character.
ON: You don’t see Caspian?
BB: I get little glimpses of him but, my Caspian was Sam West in 1989 so I imagine some-thing different. But it’s an honour to be anybody else’s Caspian.
ON: How did your family react to the screening?
BB: They were entirely overwhelmed. My mum was sitting next to me and just watching it and looking at me and didn’t know what to say, the same goes for my brothers, they were completely into that film.
ON: Are there some differences already to how girls react to you?
BB: Since the film came out I have been travelling around and promoting it so I didn’t really have the chance to find out yet. But I’ll look into it, I plan to explore it very soon (laughs).
ON: Isn’t it also kind of flattering?
BB: Yeah, absolutely of course! I promise that I’ll have a more interesting answer for you next time.
ON: Is it also scary?
BB: A little bit, but I’m still learning. I think it’s something you have to be quite careful with.
ON: Are you looking forward to spending two more years with Caspian?
BB: Well luckily I will have some time in between to do other things, which is nice. But yes, I can’t wait, it’s such a different type of story and a different character because it’s several years later as he’s been ruling this land now. He will be much more of a man. So for me, I mean, I never came back to play the same role before, therefore it’s pretty inter-esting.
ON: Was it nice to go back to your normal life and leave Prince Caspian?
BB: I haven’t done it yet so I don’t know. I don’t think that there will be any normal ever again, but we will see, who knows.
