Anna Popplewell on What Led to Susan’s Fall | Talking Beasts

I was nervous about auditioning for a character of which there were many different conceptions and opinions.

In this season finale of Talking Beasts: The Narnia Podcast, Anna Popplewell reminisces about playing Queen Susan, 15 years after the release of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Click play to listen (above) and then post a comment.

Topics include:

  • Memories of NarniaWeb while filming
  • The pressure to live up to readers’ imaginations.
  • The “really really weird” experience of returning for The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
  • Anna’s take on Susan’s shocking choice in The Last Battle
  • Possibility of Netflix rebooting Narnia

Also check out our recent interview with Georige Henley (Lucy).

Headshot by Simon Anand.

Episode Transcript

16 Responses

  1. Aslan1Fan says:

    Thank you so much for doing these types of interviews. Anna is amazing. I enjoyed this a lot!!!!

  2. Kyle says:

    Great interview !!!!!!!

  3. Alambil says:

    The most fascinating thing was that she actually tried *not* to talk about it at school! I can’t imagine keeping all my thoughts from pouring out!

  4. Cleander says:

    Thanks for the awesome interview, it was a great Christmas treat! I find it amazing how aware the film cast were of Narniaweb.
    It’s also cool that “Susan” actually went to C.S. Lewis’s school at Oxford!

  5. Keeper of Lantern Waste says:

    Interesting interview. I thought it it was really cool that she consciously made an effort in her performance to hint at Susan’s path in LB. Also I did not know Queen Susan attended Lewis’ college!

  6. .Larry W. says:

    Anna is wonderful actress and fit the role of Susan perfectly. How wonderful it was to play Susan the Gentle! It’s great to have this interview even though it has been fifteen years since the first movie was made. To me the movies don’t seem very old, although in some ways the three movies are rather vintage now, which is good because I like old fashioned things. At first I thought they were a little modern, but now that over a decade has passed the films seem kind of nostalgic. I enjoy them even more now for that reason. 🙂

  7. EJH says:

    Such a lovely interview. I’m glad to hear how she studied the books in addition to the scripts. I wish her the best with her writing.

  8. EJH says:

    As a teenager I didn’t think about the cast being tempted to read Narniaweb and other fansites. My apologies to Ben Barnes about commenting about Caspian’s hair; I know he didn’t have a choice in its style.

  9. Carley says:

    Thanks for the interview! Really enjoyed listening. Anna did such a great job as Susan, so cool to hear her on the podcast.

  10. Thunder-Fist says:

    Lovely interview. It was fascinating to hear Ms. Popplewell Speak of her experiences. I’d never considered how odd that might be, filming her scene in VDT. Also, I had a mild existential crisis when I realized that Walden’s LLW Is the same age that BBC’s Narnia was when Walden’s LLW was released.

  11. Skilletdude says:

    Actually, BBC’s LWW released in 1988, so it would have been closer to 17 years in 2005. But yes, now that you mention it, that’s a strange thought.

  12. Andy Harrelson says:

    I loved this series of interviews! I really ought to go back and take a look at the other 2 you did with Skandar and Moseley…

  13. Devan says:

    She was absolutely right about the movies coming up around Christmas, maybe the time of year it came out or the Santa integration but I love it

  14. Dylan griffiths says:

    It would be nice to interview the cast from the BBC 1988 series of the lion the witch and the wardrobe

  15. Dear Talking Beasts Crew,

    Thank you guys SO MUCH for continuing to put out great Narnia related content for so many years. I have recently broken up with my fiancé and going back through these, especially the book reviews, have brought me so much peace and comfort. Narniaweb has been my Internet haven since 2006, and I’m so glad it’s still around! Thank you for all your hard work, praying for you and your families!

    Scrib

  16. So sorry for you! I agree we must thank the Talking beasts crew.