Source: Edward Douglas
August 29, 2005
For his upcoming adaptation of C.S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, Shrek director Andrew Adamson's first challenge was to find four young actors who could play the Pevensie kids from the classic children's story. It was important to find four unknowns who could carry the film and take on all the challenges of such a huge production.
For Peter, the eldest of the Pevensie clan, Adamson chose William Moseley, a British actor who had only appeared in a few small projects, but suddenly found himself in New Zealand, taking part in huge battle sequences often involving creatures that would be added later using computer effects.
In this exclusive interview with ComingSoon.net, Moseley told us how he got the job and how it was an experience that changed his life.
CS!: How did you find out about this movie or how did Andrew find you?
William Moseley: Well, basically what happened was I had a casting director who knew me from a period drama. She liked me and remembered me from this agency. If you'd like, I can tell you the story. What happened was I was at this tiny little primary school when I was ten years old. There, we studied the three core subjects and it was relaxed and easy and everyone knew everyone else. One day, this casting director comes to town looking for a knobbly-kneed red-faced village child. I sort of fitted the bill. I was not self-conscious; I was a total show-off. I just loved all the attention and I loved doing these improvisations and just being in the moment. It was for this period drama on BBC that I couldn't do because I was too young for the older role and too old for the younger role.
For Peter, the eldest of the Pevensie clan, Adamson chose William Moseley, a British actor who had only appeared in a few small projects, but suddenly found himself in New Zealand, taking part in huge battle sequences often involving creatures that would be added later using computer effects.
In this exclusive interview with ComingSoon.net, Moseley told us how he got the job and how it was an experience that changed his life.
CS!: How did you find out about this movie or how did Andrew find you?
William Moseley: Well, basically what happened was I had a casting director who knew me from a period drama. She liked me and remembered me from this agency. If you'd like, I can tell you the story. What happened was I was at this tiny little primary school when I was ten years old. There, we studied the three core subjects and it was relaxed and easy and everyone knew everyone else. One day, this casting director comes to town looking for a knobbly-kneed red-faced village child. I sort of fitted the bill. I was not self-conscious; I was a total show-off. I just loved all the attention and I loved doing these improvisations and just being in the moment. It was for this period drama on BBC that I couldn't do because I was too young for the older role and too old for the younger role.
CS!: Were you doing theatre at the school at that time?
Moseley: No, I wasn't. This tiny primary school didn't even do theatre, so I was like totally natural. I was that five-year-old kid you see in those films where you go "Oh my God. How did that kid act so well?" You're not self-conscious at all. You're just instinctual and just living off your moment. And so, I wanted to carry on acting. Of course, I wanted to keep showing off. And Pippa Hall, who cast "Billy Elliot", gave me this tiny little agency almost in the middle of nowhere. I don't know if you've ever read the book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time". That's in Swinden where this agency was.
CS!: Oh, wait a sec. Are you from England or from New Zealand?
Moseley: I'm from England, about an hour and a half West of London. It's Gloucestershire of Henry the 5th [fame], that kind of area. And it's just beautiful and still untouched. And then through this agency, I was always down to the last two. It was just so annoying. I must have gone out for eight things and got down to the final two for all of them. One day, Pippa comes again and she's casting for "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" like five years later, and my agent doesn't send me up, because she doesn't want me to get down to the final two or doesn't want me to audition, because she thinks I might kill Pippa if I didn't get the part. But anyway, she remembered my little red face and shouting kid, so I go up to audition, and I meet Andrew, the director. It was funny, because I met Anna, who plays Susan, in the first audition I ever had. Through 18 months auditioning, I finally got the part.
CS!: Were you familiar with C.S. Lewis' books before you heard about this part?
Moseley: I think I knew the story. I used to read like fantasy stories, but "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" I listened to on story tape every night. I would listen to the first ten or fifteen minutes and I'd know it by heart, and then I would just fall asleep, so I wouldn't know the rest of the book. It was so weird. I would know the first ten or fifteen minutes perfectly, but the rest of it would kind of be oblivious. I remember reading the books when I was auditioning, and you know, I loved it. It's funny, because for a 17 year old to actually enjoy what's essentially a children's story was kind of laugh. Maybe it was because my reading ability is of a child. (laughs) I remember when I read the script to my parents and I used to get to the battle bit. Because in the book, it's like "Peter fights in the battle" but whereas in the script, it's like "Peter gallops furiously into battle." And I would smile when I read that, just like I'm smiling now.
Moseley: No, I wasn't. This tiny primary school didn't even do theatre, so I was like totally natural. I was that five-year-old kid you see in those films where you go "Oh my God. How did that kid act so well?" You're not self-conscious at all. You're just instinctual and just living off your moment. And so, I wanted to carry on acting. Of course, I wanted to keep showing off. And Pippa Hall, who cast "Billy Elliot", gave me this tiny little agency almost in the middle of nowhere. I don't know if you've ever read the book "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time". That's in Swinden where this agency was.
CS!: Oh, wait a sec. Are you from England or from New Zealand?
Moseley: I'm from England, about an hour and a half West of London. It's Gloucestershire of Henry the 5th [fame], that kind of area. And it's just beautiful and still untouched. And then through this agency, I was always down to the last two. It was just so annoying. I must have gone out for eight things and got down to the final two for all of them. One day, Pippa comes again and she's casting for "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" like five years later, and my agent doesn't send me up, because she doesn't want me to get down to the final two or doesn't want me to audition, because she thinks I might kill Pippa if I didn't get the part. But anyway, she remembered my little red face and shouting kid, so I go up to audition, and I meet Andrew, the director. It was funny, because I met Anna, who plays Susan, in the first audition I ever had. Through 18 months auditioning, I finally got the part.
CS!: Were you familiar with C.S. Lewis' books before you heard about this part?
Moseley: I think I knew the story. I used to read like fantasy stories, but "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" I listened to on story tape every night. I would listen to the first ten or fifteen minutes and I'd know it by heart, and then I would just fall asleep, so I wouldn't know the rest of the book. It was so weird. I would know the first ten or fifteen minutes perfectly, but the rest of it would kind of be oblivious. I remember reading the books when I was auditioning, and you know, I loved it. It's funny, because for a 17 year old to actually enjoy what's essentially a children's story was kind of laugh. Maybe it was because my reading ability is of a child. (laughs) I remember when I read the script to my parents and I used to get to the battle bit. Because in the book, it's like "Peter fights in the battle" but whereas in the script, it's like "Peter gallops furiously into battle." And I would smile when I read that, just like I'm smiling now.
CS!: For how long were you in New Zealand and how was it shooting down there?
Moseley: Well, it was amazing. I mean, we shot seven months in New Zealand and then we shot for two weeks in Prague. It was a life-changing experience. New Zealand is an amazing setting for such an amazing film. I feel like a big city like Los Angeles or London or New York just wouldn't have been right for such a film like that. It almost needs to be in its element. It's a free story about free things, and it needs to be in a free place, and I'm so glad we shot it in New Zealand. I think it was just right.
CS!: How was it to act opposite all sorts of creatures that weren't really there?
Moseley: That's a good question, because when I first got there, I found it kind of weird, because you have this guy just holding a pole with a piece tape or something on it, and you have to be scared or empowered or frustrated by it. What we all did as almost child actors was we used our imaginations and we created the perfect Aslan or the perfect Beavers or the perfect wolves, which were scary. We saw them in our minds and it was almost better that way, because they were perfect to us and unique to our imagination. I remember watching "The Lord of the Rings" one day and I could see that the guy was looking at an "X" on the matte box of the camera. That was his sightline and that was supposed to be Gollum. I remember thinking that his eyes weren't moving. When you talk to someone, your eyes and your face are constantly moving. Your eyes aren't locked, so that was something that Andrew helped with. He could become the eyeline of that character, because he knew everything about it, as far as the dimensions.
CS!: What were your favorite scenes to shoot? All the war stuff?
Moseley: Yeah, that is an easy question, because that was amazing. I couldn't have enjoyed that any more than I did. Like I said, I rode on this perfectly trained white Spanish Andalusian horse, bareback with a full suit of armor, sword and a shield across a battlefield, galloping towards snow-capped New Zealand mountains. I mean, that was the greatest experience of my life.
Moseley: Well, it was amazing. I mean, we shot seven months in New Zealand and then we shot for two weeks in Prague. It was a life-changing experience. New Zealand is an amazing setting for such an amazing film. I feel like a big city like Los Angeles or London or New York just wouldn't have been right for such a film like that. It almost needs to be in its element. It's a free story about free things, and it needs to be in a free place, and I'm so glad we shot it in New Zealand. I think it was just right.
CS!: How was it to act opposite all sorts of creatures that weren't really there?
Moseley: That's a good question, because when I first got there, I found it kind of weird, because you have this guy just holding a pole with a piece tape or something on it, and you have to be scared or empowered or frustrated by it. What we all did as almost child actors was we used our imaginations and we created the perfect Aslan or the perfect Beavers or the perfect wolves, which were scary. We saw them in our minds and it was almost better that way, because they were perfect to us and unique to our imagination. I remember watching "The Lord of the Rings" one day and I could see that the guy was looking at an "X" on the matte box of the camera. That was his sightline and that was supposed to be Gollum. I remember thinking that his eyes weren't moving. When you talk to someone, your eyes and your face are constantly moving. Your eyes aren't locked, so that was something that Andrew helped with. He could become the eyeline of that character, because he knew everything about it, as far as the dimensions.
CS!: What were your favorite scenes to shoot? All the war stuff?
Moseley: Yeah, that is an easy question, because that was amazing. I couldn't have enjoyed that any more than I did. Like I said, I rode on this perfectly trained white Spanish Andalusian horse, bareback with a full suit of armor, sword and a shield across a battlefield, galloping towards snow-capped New Zealand mountains. I mean, that was the greatest experience of my life.
CS!: Were you the one who had problems with armor constantly having to be refitted?
Moseley: No, actually that was Skandar [Keynes], who played Edmond. He grew six and a half inches. I think I grew a bit, so they had to do me now and again, but he grew weekly.
CS!: Peter also appears in the second Narnia book, so do you know if you're already signed to do another movie?
Moseley: Well, the script isn't totally done yet, and they're still working on it, but I'm very happy and willing and looking forward to doing the next one.
CS!: A lot of people are familiar with the books, but those who aren't, see the trailer and compared it to "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings." Everyone in those movies have become huge stars, so are you prepared for that sort of fame yet?
Moseley: What I hope is that I don't just become "Peter from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe." I want to try and do something else to be a good actor and a respected actor. I'm not saying that they're not good actors, but essentially, someone might call him "the Harry Potter kid", they don't say Daniel Radcliffe, his actual name. That's what I'd like to break out of. It's kind of fortunate, in a way, that I'm in this film and the next one, and then I'll be perhaps 19 when the next one's done. That will be a good foundation to step forward.
CS!: Have you had any time in between to look for other things?
Moseley: Recently, I had some agents from UCA come to my country house in England. They drove all the way there, and it was amazing. I've just been setting some foundations up for myself in Los Angeles, and they've been planning things out for me, so I'm just sort of keeping an open mind. I'm just reading scripts and if I like them, I like them.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe opens everywhere on December 9. The film's official website has also been updated with a new map of Narnia located at the bottom of the screen. You can currently explore the Lamp-post and Tumnus' Home. Be sure to look around for clips and other features.
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=10985
Moseley: No, actually that was Skandar [Keynes], who played Edmond. He grew six and a half inches. I think I grew a bit, so they had to do me now and again, but he grew weekly.
CS!: Peter also appears in the second Narnia book, so do you know if you're already signed to do another movie?
Moseley: Well, the script isn't totally done yet, and they're still working on it, but I'm very happy and willing and looking forward to doing the next one.
CS!: A lot of people are familiar with the books, but those who aren't, see the trailer and compared it to "Harry Potter" and "The Lord of the Rings." Everyone in those movies have become huge stars, so are you prepared for that sort of fame yet?
Moseley: What I hope is that I don't just become "Peter from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe." I want to try and do something else to be a good actor and a respected actor. I'm not saying that they're not good actors, but essentially, someone might call him "the Harry Potter kid", they don't say Daniel Radcliffe, his actual name. That's what I'd like to break out of. It's kind of fortunate, in a way, that I'm in this film and the next one, and then I'll be perhaps 19 when the next one's done. That will be a good foundation to step forward.
CS!: Have you had any time in between to look for other things?
Moseley: Recently, I had some agents from UCA come to my country house in England. They drove all the way there, and it was amazing. I've just been setting some foundations up for myself in Los Angeles, and they've been planning things out for me, so I'm just sort of keeping an open mind. I'm just reading scripts and if I like them, I like them.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe opens everywhere on December 9. The film's official website has also been updated with a new map of Narnia located at the bottom of the screen. You can currently explore the Lamp-post and Tumnus' Home. Be sure to look around for clips and other features.
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/topnews.php?id=10985
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