German Cinema magazine
Translated by Birte

The Chronicles of Narnie - Prince Caspian of Narnia
-on and a smoother story: the new fight for the world of fables is like an adventure from a storybook

It doesn't look good for the Narnia fantasy-world: The Telmariens, the human neighbours of the centaurs, fauns, dwrafs and speaking animals, practice since centurys the destruction of the fable-empire. It's getting really ticklish when the evil Lord Miraz (Sergio Castellitto) tries to bump off his nephew Caspian (Ben Barnes), the heir of the telmarien throne, to vrown himself. Caspian is able to get away but now Miraz finally has a reason to bring the telmarien army forward for a destroying war against Narnia. The only chance of being rescued is the return of the four Pevensie siblings who saved Narnia already once about 1300 years (which is one year for mankind) from the white witch. So Caspian blows the magical horn to get Peter, Lucy, Edmund and Susan right out of the London tube as an ally. The fight for Narnia and it's endangered creatures can begin…
While the first Chronicles of Narnia movie for many fantasy-fans was a bit childish regaring the story and concerning the effects disappoiting - director Andrew Adamson and his crew now improved everything with the second Narnia-adventure. The pseudo-religious kitsch-impression of the prequel ist gone, the storyline runs fluent and fast towards the finale and looks like a classic knight-saga with a fantasy-look. Because the CGI was strongly improved, the landscape (the film was shot in Newzealand, Czech Republic, Slowenia and Poland) are beautiful and the story is more grown up, the story of Prince Caspian will be interesting even for action orientated teenager.
In the USA the film tied in with the success of the prequel easily and, starting in time with boxoffice hits like Iron Man and Indiana Jones 4, reached already 140 mio $ so that worldwide the 750 mio $ mark will be reached easily, like the prequel already did. The Narnia-series became for the Walt Disney studios and Walden Media already a huge franchise-cash-cow.
Part 3, The Voyage of the Dawntrader, ist already in pre-production and the actual production will start this summer. Only the 2 youngest Pevensies Edmund (Skandas Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) will be in the third film. Peter (William Moseley) and Susan (Anna Popplewell) have already become highly visible grown-ups and they say good-bye for good to Caspian and the fable-creatures at the end of this adventure. Tood bad because this time the appearance of the four british kids doesn't leave a weird aftertaste. They grew into their characters. But the rules in Narnia are unremovable.

"As a teenager I already wanted to be prince Caspian"
- From the church choir to a rockband to the leadinf role in Narnia: Ben Barnes about his moving past life and ugly rumors about his behaviour during the shooting of Prince Caspian

Cinema: For many people the seven Narnia-books are a beautiful memory of their childhood. How was it with you?
BB: I nearly devoured the books. When I got the offer for this part about 2 years ago, I was totally excited and found on the attic the old Prince Caspien of Narnia book. Isn't it great? My name was still in there. As an eight year old I identified myself with Peter Pevensie, as teenager I absolutely wanted to be prince Caspian. I still can't be believe that I got to play the role of Caspian.

Cinema: Prince Caspien is the key figure of the film, so you were the most important person on set. Nonetheless it's strange to hear that all other crew members weren't allowed to come closer to you than 6 ft.
BB: *laughs* That's certainly nonsense. But I can tell you who this rumor came up. ON the first day of shooting I embarrassingly got a jittery attack. They all knew each other from the first film and I was the new guy and totally insecure if I can stand requirements. To help me out of this situation one of the producers got everyone on the set around him and said: "This is Ben Barnes. He's going to be prince Caspian. Please don't come closer than 6 ft. to him and don't look him directly in the eyes. Thanks for your attention." Unbelievable, isn't it? With this joke he obviously wanted to make everybody more comfortable. The effect was that some people handled me for the first days with kid gloves. Luckily everythign went back to normal very quick and during the shooting I became a real member of the Narnia-family.

Cinema: Did you have to learn something new for your role?
BB: A lot. Within the first weeks I only had a few scenes but I had to get one the horse every day for about 6 hours to learn horseback riding. Everyone who knows about horseback riding also knows how your butt feels after that. In the afternoon I was trained in swordfighting and in the evening I practiced with a special coach the way of Caspian's speaking.

Cinema: Rumor has it that on set you always had some arguements with William Moseley, the actor of Peter Pevensie.
BB: Oh goodness, once again this nasty rumor. The truth is that director Andrew Adamson wanted a s specific drive between William and me. He nearly forced us into rivalry to get a better benefit. I thought it was a bit weird but before I was able to wrap my mind around it, I was sweating in the gym together with William and you could have thought we were training for the Ironman. When it's about sporty competitions I'm not able to take a joke because I absolutely wanna win. And William is just the same. If you don't tell anyone: William and I became close friends quickly, only in front of the director we acted a bit as rivals. He liked it and that's the main point.

Cinema: Prince Caspian is nearly a heroic character. How brave are you in real life?
BB: Well, Caspian is not absolutely brave. He's an adolescent who also has doubts about being ready for the task that's upon him. And on the other side he dares to do some daredevil things. This far I can identify myself with this character.

Cinema: When have you been aware that you want to be an actor?
BB: That was pretty late. As a teenager I always dreamt of becoming a rockstar. Until the breaking of my voice I sang in the church choir the soprano and after that I was a drummer in a band. In the evening and on the weekend we played in smoky clubs and felt really cool as musicians. The next logical step was a training at the National Music Youth Theatre in London. That's where I finally discovered my love for the stage and the acting. Jude Law studied actually at the same school.

Cinema: Are you gonna be in the next Narnia film too?
BB: Yes, the shooting for The Voyage of the Dawntrader will already start in October. It's actually my favourite books from the series. It has a great adventure story and it shows how prince Caspian character develops and how he is as king. I have a contract for all Narnia films that eventually will be done and in which Caspian appears.

Cinema: Are you already prepared for the run of fans and the placing in lists like "sxiest man alive"?
BB: Oh sure, I even did preparatory classes just for this. *laughs* No, seriously, you can't be prepared for this. I just want to be a good actor and not a heartthrob. That's why I'm in a film that has a great story. Everything else doesn't make a difference to me.