Twenty-five years ago, C. S. Lewis’s beloved 1950 novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe—part of his Chronicles of Narnia book series—was turned into a blockbuster film featuring a bunch of unknown child actors. Since then, the film has become a classic thanks to its moving themes of hope, family and magic.
The plot follows four siblings who discover a magical wardrobe that transports them to the magical land of Narnia, which is currently under attack by the evil White Witch. Now, the four siblings must band together as they might be the land’s only hope.
Following the release of the first film—The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2005—two other films were released and it is now being remade by Oscar-nominated director Greta Gerwig. But before that happens, we need to catch up with the original cast of Narnia and find out what happened after they stepped out of the wardrobe. Read on for more.
William Moseley
CHARACTER PLAYED: Peter Pevensie
BEST KNOWN FOR: The Silent Mountain (2014), The Royals (2014 to 2018), The Little Mermaid (2018), Artemis Fowl (2020), On The Line (2022) and The Ballad of Davy Crockett (2024).
PERSONAL: Moseley is from Sheepscombe, United Kingdom.
THOUGHTS ON THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: “I’m not part of that world anymore, which sometimes makes me sad because I love the world of Narnia and becoming a part of it. It’s like if you were in Star Wars, and you got to see what the stormtroopers were like. All the amazing things worked, and it’s fun.”
Skandar Keynes
CHARACTER PLAYED: Edmund Pevensie
BEST KNOWN FOR: Following the Narnia series, Keynes left acting to study Arabic and Islamic history.
PERSONAL: He was born in London, England, United Kingdom.
THOUGHTS ON THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: “Each film was drastically different. A lot of the crew were actually similar throughout the three films and even though you’ve got a different director and different cast, there was the crew that worked on all three films and appreciated them.”
Anna Popplewell
CHARACTER PLAYED: Susan Pevensie
BEST KNOWN FOR: The Little Vampire (2000), Me Without You (2001), Reign (2013 to 2016), The Gallery (2022) and The Nun II (2023).
PERSONAL: Popplewell has been married to Sam Caird since 2016 and they have one child together.
THOUGHTS ON THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: “The most surprising thing to me was the scale of the movie. I loved the books and read the script, but when I got to New Zealand, I was surprised by the size of the sets and the number of the crew. I had never been in such a big production.”
Georgie Henley
CHARACTER PLAYED: Lucy Pevensie
BEST KNOWN FOR: Perfect Sisters (2014), The Sisterhood of Night (2014), The Spanish Princess (2019 to 2020) and The Diplomat (2023 to 2024).
PERSONAL: Henley was born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
THOUGHTS ON THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: “I was definitely thrown in at the deep end. It’s strange because I flew in at the top, but now I have to almost work my way down the ladder because I’m finished with Narnia now and am carrying on with school. I feel like I’ve had a brilliant childhood with bits added on; I don’t feel like Narnia took anything away.”
Tilda Swinton
CHARACTER PLAYED: White Witch
BEST KNOWN FOR: The Last of England (1987), The War Zone (1999), Constantine (2005), Michael Clayton (2007), Julia (2008), We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011), Snowpiercer (2013), Trainwreck (2015), Doctor Strange (2016), Suspiria (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019), Asteroid City (2023) and The End (2024).
PERSONAL: Swinton has two children.
THOUGHTS ON THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: “It’s not just Christian mythology or Islamic mythology or whatever else, all human beings need to think and feel their way into what they believe is good and evil.”
James McAvoy
CHARACTER PLAYED: Mr. Tumnus
BEST KNOWN FOR: Wimbledon (2004), The Last King of Scotland (2006), Shameless (2004 to 2005), Atonement (2007), Gnomeo & Juliet (2011), X-Men (2011 to 2019), Filth (2013), Split (2016), It Chapter Two (2019), The Book of Clarence (2023) and Speak No Evil (2024).
PERSONAL: McAvoy has been married twice and has two kids.
THOUGHTS ON THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: “I think all you got is yourself, and you know I am a very different beast to Mr. Tumnus. But you look within yourself, and you look for the aspects of the character that may not be developed in you, and you imagine them growing and you imagine what would have had to happen to you in your life to make you like that.”
Liam Neeson
CHARACTER PLAYED: Aslan
BEST KNOWN FOR: Krull (1983), Lamb (1985), Husbands and Wives (1992), Schindler’s List (1993), Les Misérables (1998), Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999), Love Actually (2003), Kinsey (2004), The A-Team (2010), Clash of the Titans (2010), The Grey (2011), Silence (2016), Marlow (2022) and Absolution (2024).
PERSONAL: Neeson was married to Natasha Richardson from 1994 to 2009 and they had two kids together.
THOUGHTS ON THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: “As we know, C.S. Lewis, who wrote the books, was a famous atheist who then became a famous convert to Christianity. I have read quite a lot of his books other than The Chronicles of Narnia. Yes, Aslan symbolizes a Christ-like figure, but he also symbolizes Mohammed, Buddha and all the great spiritual leaders and prophets over the centuries. That’s who Aslan stands for as well as a mentor figure for kids—that’s what he means for me.”
Honorable mention: Ben Barnes from ‘The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian’ (2008)
CHARACTER PLAYED: Prince Caspian
BEST KNOWN FOR: Stardust (2007), Dorian Gray (2009), Jackie & Ryan (2014), Westworld (2016 to 2018), The Punisher (2017 to 2019), Gold Digger (2019) and Shadow and Bone (2021 to 2023).
PERSONAL: Barnes is from London, England, United Kingdom.
THOUGHTS ON THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: “One of my skills, as an actor, I think, is to really enjoy the experience of making it, for being in New Zealand or being in Prague and being on these incredible sets and being around incredible people.”