Rumor: Denise Gough ‘Narnia’ Role Revealed?
Irish actress Denise Gough was first confirmed to have a role in Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of The Magician’s Nephew back in September 2025, however she has remained conspicuously tight-lipped about the nature of that role ever since.
NarniaWeb has received information which indicates that Denise Gough might be playing Aunt Letty in the film. Netflix declined to comment on our findings so this information should be taken with a grain of salt.
Denise Gough teased at the time of her casting that her role involved being “mean […] to children“, and whilst Letty is not necessarily depicted as being mean in the book, she is described as being “a tough old lady” with a “firm, quiet voice” who generally exhibits a stern, no-nonsense approach to running a hectic household.
Gough, who recently turned 46, is also well placed to play the middle sibling of both Daniel Craig (58) as Uncle Andrew, and Carey Mulligan (40) as Mabel Kirke, Digory’s mother.
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with Vogue Magazine, Denise echoed similar sentiments to recent comments made her fellow co-star Carey Mulligan, in her praise for director Greta Gerwig:
“Greta really understands actors… It’s a rare thing to spend time with women your own age in this industry, and it’s a gift, as you age, to keep having new experiences with people who inspire you.”
Denise Gough
She also recounted an amusing incident in which the child stars of Narnia came to visit her at a recent performance of her stage play ‘High Noon’ in London, and presented her with a toilet roll with her face on it.
“When I work with kids, I want them to stay kids, so we don’t talk about work. We play pranks,”
Denise Gough, alongside all of her other co-stars, can next be seen in Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew which premieres in IMAX Cinemas on November 26th 2026 and on Netflix on Christmas Day 2026.
Absolutely loved her role in Andor, can’t wait to see her in Narnia, even if just for a smaller role! Also that tidbit about her interactions with the child actors is cute, glad to hear she’s a lot nicer as a person than her characters xD
It’s also really encouraging to hear all the actors involved have such high praise for Greta, though how much of that is professional courtesy and how much is their actual opinions is hard to say.
It means nothing but a couple of weeks ago I noticed that Denise Gough had “liked” some red carpet photos on IG of Carey Mulligan at the recent BAFTAS and at the time I wondered if they had any scenes together in Narnia…. As far as I know they’ve never worked together in a prior project.
If she is playing Aunt Letty then that rules out Meryl Streep. It’s feeling more likely that she will voice Aslan, I think.
Streep as Aslan is a done deal, just hasn’t been confirmed. The question now is whether it’ll be a female or male presentation of the character.
263 days to go!!!
Time is ticking away! 🙂 Can’t wait. I think I’ll take the day off work to see the first session… or a midnight session if they are doing that. And after that I’ll take a group.
To be fair to Letty, while firm and tough (which described not her treatment of others, but her toughness in being thrown across the room), she shows concern for Digory’s well being, trying to shield him from her rotten brother:
“Whenever [Uncle Andrew] tries to say anything to me at meal times — he
never even tries to talk to [Aunt Letty] — she always shuts him up. She says,
‘Don’t worry the boy, Andrew’ or ‘I’m sure Digory doesn’t want to
hear about that’ or else ‘Now, Digory, wouldn’t you like to go out and
play in the garden?'” ….and she refers to her dying sister as, “But poor, dear little Mabel!”
I don’t think “mean to children” fits her as written.
I’d say it’s another change to the story Greta has made.
It’s certainly possible.
Do you really think Gerwig would take a fully realized book character (and a female one at that) and reduce them to one that is a one-note, mean character? Even if she plays up a bit of Letty’s strict, “mean” persona for the children (which I can see in the book, especially from a child’s perspective), I can’t picture her as being a simple baddie without complex character motivations where she doesn’t care for protecting Digory or her sister.
I have no idea what Gerwig is doing with this character. I’m only comparing and contrasting what the actress has said versus how Letty is written. I get no sense that Letty is “mean to children” in the book. I didn’t say nor do I think Letty will be portrayed as a villain, either. Just that she’s not mean, not as Lewis wrote her.
I feel like it was kind of obvious that she is going to be Aunt Letty, am I right?
I really hope GG doesn’t intend to make Aunt Letty an unsympathetic character in the film. The last thing we fans want is to side with the Witch during their confrontation scene where Letty tells the witch off and gets thrown.
I don’t think you need to worry about that. Gerwig writes fully fleshed-out, real characters, so the idea of Gerwig taking a well-intentioned female character in the book and making her into one that is unsympathetic to the point we’re rooting for the witch doesn’t make sense.
Hopefully, Narnia solidifies Denise Gough as more of a household name. She’s too good to be hidden away to televison sereis and stage plays for the rest of her career!
I know everyone is saying she is going to be Aunt Letty and I agree it sounds pretty likely, but just for discussion purposes, could she perhaps be Mrs. Lefay? The one who gave Uncle Andrew the dust in the first place, which he formed the rings out of? Isn’t she sort of a strange one? And possibly meaner than Aunt Letty is portrayed in the book? Maybe we’ll see a flashback of when Andrew was given the box? Just food for thought and pure speculation!
Isn’t she a bit young for aunt Letty?