“A Pinch Me Moment”: Carey Mulligan Begins Filming on Narnia
Carey Mulligan has officially begun filming on Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew.
The three-time Academy Award nominee appeared on Sunrise television program via Zoom to promote her new film The Ballad of Wallis Island, which opened in Australian cinemas on August 28. She also reflected on joining Greta Gerwig’s Narnia during the interview (starting at 2:21)
“I honestly just can’t believe I got to be in either of them. I’ve wanted to work with Greta forever, and to get to be a part of that in any way is kind of a pinch-me moment. So yeah, I’m just feeling incredibly lucky.”
Mulligan plays Mabel Kirke, the sick mother of Digory, portrayed by newcomer David McKenna. Filming is currently underway at Shepperton Studios in the UK, which is serving as the film’s production base.
Meanwhile, the film’s second unit has been busy staging Jadis’s rampage throughout various locations in England, including most recently near The Mall just outside Buckingham Palace, using stunt doubles while Gerwig films with the main cast at Shepperton.
Multiple NarniaWebbers were on hand for the rampage scenes filmed on location and have been sharing photos and videos in our Discord community — an exclusive perk for our Patreon supporters.
Here’s what we know so far about Netflix’s Narnia project, including which cast members are confirmed and those still rumored.
I’m really looking forward to Mulligan’s performance as Mabel. While I do have some adaptation concerns overall, I’m confident Digory and his mother’s relationship will be portrayed with excellence. Hopefully, we’ll get more cast confirmations soon!
Well, she’s excited to work with Gerwig, that’s all. No mention of Narnia. I guess she could care less what the project is.
It’s rather clear with these actors that they only took on this project in order to work with Greta Gerwig – which is a fairly terrible reason to do any project, really. It only works if they also have passion for the script or story, but here we see people clearly wanting to work with Greta Gerwig and not seeming to care what the script is. This will only end badly.
It is good that Carey is excited to be on the project. I wouldn’t be too concerned that she sounds more excited to work with Greta Gerwig than to work on The Magician’s Nephew – some years ago Sean Aston was desperate to work on some movie called The Lord of the Rings (his agent had to inform him that the book was the sequel to The Hobbit as he did not know even that, he had never read the books). He was not really interested in the movie, but his dad (John Aston of The Adam’s Family fame) had spoken so highly of working with Peter Jackson. Sean’s interest in the project was purely to work with Peter.
I don’t usually comment here, but I feel like I need to say something about the tone from some of the commenters in recent discussions.
You don’t have to like Gerwig, or trust every choice she’s making, but treating every single story like it spells doom for Narnia is exhausting. There’s nothing noble about being perpetually critical. It doesn’t make you a “truer” fan. It just makes it harder to enjoy anything. If that’s the posture you bring into everything, nothing in life will ever satisfy you.
As for the idea that actors signing on because they want to work with Gerwig is somehow a “terrible reason” to join a project — why?
That’s one of the most common and respected reasons actors cite when they take on a role. Nolan, Villeneuve, Tarantino, Spielberg, Scorsese… time and time again you hear actors say that’s why they said yes. Saoirse Ronan said she’d be “willing to make tea” in Narnia to get the chance to work with Gerwig again. They want to collaborate with great directors. That’s not a red flag or even anything of note.
Actors are professionals. Yes, they want to work with people who inspire them, but they also work to get paid. That doesn’t mean they’re phoning it in or don’t care about the story. It just means they’re human beings doing a job. And in this case, for fans, it’s important they do a good job because this adaptation will bring millions of new readers to Narnia.
So no, it’s not “going to end badly” just because Saoirse Ronan or Carey Mulligan didn’t grow up dreaming of being in a Narnia film, (which we also don’t know so why are we jumping to conclusions?). If they’re talented, well-cast, and committed, that’s what matters. Saying “this will only end badly” because of why someone signed their contract is just melodramatic and pathetic.
If the movie news is too depressing for you, then maybe don’t comment on each news article?
I’m not saying don’t share negative opinions, please do! I’m not thrilled about some decisions being made either. But have the humility to acknowledge that each story is not the end of the world, and ultimately, we’ll have to wait until the final product to judge for ourselves. You may end up enjoying aspects of the movie, who knows?
Go outside, enjoy the end of summer, reread the books, talk about your favorite Narnia adaptations. And I don’t mean this facetiously or with a rude spirit at all.
We’re all going to be okay. Further Up and Further In!
Best.
Apologies for the lengthy comment. While I’m here, I’ll just add that Carey is a fantastic actress and you should check out her performance in Promising Young Woman. Now back to my lurking… 🙂
Thanks, Cliff Fletcher. I really don’t like where the story is going, but I’m starting to think I’m being too openly critical. I’m trying to look for the positives as well as the negatives in the adaptation now. I never thought about how criticizing everything doesn’t make me a “truer fan”. That’s probably one of the reasons I’ve been so upset about it recently, aside from the fact that I truly don’t like the changes they are making to the movie. 🙂 So, once more, thanks!
I think the criticism of Mulligan for not specifically talking about loving Narnia during an interview she gave to promote a different film is somewhat unfair.
I did want to note, however, that in the spirit of C.S. Lewis, who took in children to shelter them from the blitz during World War II, today Carey Mulligan is spending her off-day lobbying for support for Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia, and/or suffering as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. See https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/carey-mulligan-war-child-government-russia-uk-government-b1246431.html
For several different reasons, I’m unable to think of any other actor I think would have been a better choice to play Digory’s mother. I’m eager to see Carey Mulligan in this role.
As a director myself, I disagree with the idea that having actors mainly excited to work with a director is a bad thing. The director-actor relationship is very important and fundamental for having great performances. An actor can be passionate about the script, but if they don’t have a good relationship with the director, their passion might not come across on film. I’m pretty sure that with I’ve worked with actors in the past, their enjoyment in working with me is greater than their passion for the script (though I have received compliments on my scripts from actors), yet that did not hurt the quality of the final film.