Tom Bonington Cast in Supporting Role for Netflix’s ‘Narnia’ Movie
NarniaWeb can confirm that British actor Tom Bonington has been cast in Netflix’s upcoming ‘Narnia’ film based on The Magician’s Nephew.
Bonington will appear as a character named Mr. Potts. Since the character does not appear in C.S. Lewis’s original novel, this may suggest a new supporting role created for the adaptation. Given Bonington’s previous work, often in independent productions or in limited on-screen roles, the part is likely to be a minor one.
On his Spotlight profile, Bonington lists the film under it’s codename ‘Ordinary Time’. The title comes from a line from spoken by Digory in the book when Jadis tempts him with the Apple from the Tree of Life and the promise of immortality:
“No thanks,” said Digory, “I don’t know that I care much about living on and on after everyone I know is dead. I’d rather live an ordinary time and die and go to Heaven.”
This rejection is arguably the pivotal thematic moment of the story, so it is perhaps no surprise that Greta Gerwig selected such a resonant line of dialogue as the film’s working title.
Bonington’s past credits include playing a Priest in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and, more recently, an Engineer Officer in Season 2 of Disney’s Andor.
What’s On Netflix was the first to report the news of Bonington’s involvement.
Interesting that the Spotlight profile lists the film’s title as “Ordinary Time.”
I’m predicting ‘Mr. Potts’ will have exactly one line of dialogue shouting at one of the children…
I hope NarniaWebbers don’t fret too much over this one 🙂
My guess, based on the role name, and the fact that Digory is seen in his school uniform,.is that Mr Potts will be a school teacher.
Could Mr. Potts be code for another character perhaps? They’ve used fake names before to mean something else. Or maybe it really is just a new character. I mean, I’m okay with that. The fox from LWW 2005 was such a cool add in! And so was making “Lord” Glozelle a General in PC. I suppose we shall see!
@Lord Argoz There’s a thread on the forum discussing the significance of “Ordinary Time” from Digory’s line in the book: https://community.narniaweb.com/community/general-movie-discussion/the-religious-and-thematic-significance-of-narnias-working-title/
@Impending Doom Thank you, fascinating thread!
I think we just found our Frank the cab driver!
Is he too old to be Frank?
He has slightly pointed earshe would have been perfect for mr tumnus
@Linda YESSSS that was what I thought when I saw him! Could it be that we will meet an ancestor of Mr. T in MN? He and James McAvoy almost look like they could be related. THOUGHTS…
He looks like he could be the cabbie, but I suppose it’s just as likely he’s just a random side character…
Ordinary Time is an appropriate code name.
I hope Tom Bonington enjoys working on MN.
We live in a wonderful time for Narniawebbers! Real casting news, and production set photos! Oh my! I wondered if we’d never get here!
Is Mr. Potts a code name too? He could be a completely made up character, but he could also be the cabby (though he’s a bit old for that) or one of the police officers. Or he might be the owner of the jewelry shop Jadis stole from. There’s also the possibility that he is playing Uncle Andrew, though I wouldn’t really call that a minor role. Who knows? 🙂
I like that they used “Ordinary Time” as a code name for the movie. It’s intriguing. I wouldn’t mind watching a movie that had that title as a real name!
Interesting. If this is a new character, I’m assuming it’s a small role. Keep in mind, what Lewis can describe in a paragraph of the world and life that Digory and Polly live in, filmmakers have to flesh out in scenes showing us their experiences before the fantastical adventure begins. So don’t be surprised if more people are cast in roles that aren’t directly from the book. It’s possibly to fill in the gaps in the story where Lewis’ narration isn’t present.