Report: ‘Paddington 2’ Actor Kobna Holdbrook-Smith Cast in Netflix’s Narnia
NarniaWeb has received some information indicating that Kobna Holdbrook-Smith has been cast in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Narnia movie.
The Ghanaian-born British actor has worked across film, television, stage, and various voice roles. Notable credits include Paddington 2, Wonka, Mary Poppins Returns, Doctor Strange, Zack Snyder’s Justice League, the upcoming The Sheep Detective, as well as HBO’s His Dark Materials series.
He also won 2019’s Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical for playing Ike Turner in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.
Details of his character in The Magician’s Nephew are being kept under wraps, although NarniaWeb did first hear of his involvement before filming wrapped in January. Representatives for Holdbrook-Smith did not respond to requests for comment, and Netflix declined to comment.
So, for now, this casting remains unconfirmed.
Previously confirmed cast members for Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew include David McKenna, Beatrice Campbell, Daniel Craig, Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, Denise Gough, Susan Wokoma, Samantha Spiro, and Meryl Streep.
Oh he was great in Mary Poppins Returns and very likeable….wonder if he’s doing voiceover or in person acting? Either way, this is a pretty good casting in my opinion!
He will be Frank. Great casting!
Confirmed or speculation??
He’s a great character actor! Welcome to the cast Kobna 🙂
Wow, I beat Impending Doom to a comment? Lol…notify the world!
I get the benefit of timing because I’m often the one hitting publish lol
But hey — can’t get first comment on them all. Couldn’t have happened to a better person! Congrats 😉
I have seen a few of those movies, but don’t remember him really. But several of them are highly regarded family films. Well done, if it becomes confirmed. Narnia would be a great film to be a part of.
Oh, and if the Narnia movie ends up becoming a musical, he has the chops for that!
Oh no, I sincerely hope Narnia doesn’t become a musical!! Anything but that! Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to summon Tash, who has my full devotion
Are we sure Daniel Craig is playing Uncle Andrew? Because I think with a crazy wig, this actor could be a good Andrew.
He would do a fantastic voice of Aslan (here’s hoping)
Aslan is a possibility and may explain why he hasn’t been officially mentioned.
Also, we need to consider that Greta knows she’s going to be criticised by some for Narnia’s christian elements; her choosing either Meryl or Kobna is a way to show how she’s added diversity to the story. And yes, he could do a great Aslan, I’m sure.
What does “adding diversity” do to the story when it’s set in 1905 England or in this case 1950’s England? Like how does making it more diverse a better story? It doesn’t. I’d rather he be Aslan than a woman thats for sure! Maybe he’s Aslan.
He is a tremendous actor. I think he would make a wonderful Frank the cabby. It would be marvellous to have him and Susan Wokoma as Frank and Helen. I’m looking forward to hearing confirmation of both their characters.
Agreed!!
LOVE THIS!
“My children,” said Aslan, fixing his eyes on both of them, “you are to be the first king and queen of Narnia.”
243 days to go!!!
Unlike other people in this comment section, I do not believe he would be a good Aslan. Based on a few clips ive been of him, I dont his voice matches Aslans character. I think he would be better suited to be King Frank.
The thing is though that filming wrapped up at the end of January and they are now in post-production phase, so unless they were to recast any of the characters (including King Frank), and do new re-shoots (other than minor re-shoots), there won’t be any new filming as such. Hence the comments about voiceovers. As Kobna has done a lot of voice acting, I would have to assume he will be a talking beast of some sort. I know his voice isn’t as deep as we might expect for Aslan, but this would likely be modulated in the sound recording stage. Makes more sense than Merryl (rumoured exactly a year ago for the voice role, but nothing since).
oh wait i must have misread: have they confirmed him to be a voiceover role? I just thought he was reported to be in it, not specified if he acted or used his voice
No, it was me that misread about his involvement prior to filming wrapping up, so he could still be an onscreen character (I was a bit quick off the mark!)
I wonder when we’ll see a trailer. The HBO Harry Potter (also out on Christmas Day) has already delivered a trailer. How long will ‘under wraps’ last I wonder?
An insider (cant remember the name) has said 1st June/July (cant remember which one). Apparently the plan is for Gerwick to do a countdown event for it in London, and thats when the advertisement for the movie starts to go big
I am inclined to love anything associated with Paddington 2.
This actor has a nack for picking projects I am very excited for/ interested in
Also, no one has mentioned Elliot McNabb for a while; he may be a bigger character than we think. His name is quite prominent in the poster.