UK: Narnia stars rub shoulders with Queen Elizabeth at the world premiere of "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" in London

Record ID: 219695

  • Title: UK: Narnia stars rub shoulders with Queen Elizabeth at the world premiere of "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" in London
  • Date: 3rd December 2010
  • Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (NOVEMBER 30, 2010) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR LIAM NEESON SAYING: "I went to Kenya, Tanzania to see lions in the wild. It was very very fascinating to see. I realise why these creatures are kings of the jungle." NEESON TALKING TO MEDIA
  • Embargoed: 18th December 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: United Kingdom
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Topics: Royalty
  • Reuters ID: LVA31QKZFCG5OFBQT5CMJXHHHSZH
  • Story Text: Stars of the latest Narnia film "The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader" braved the freezing cold in London on Tuesday (November 30) night for the film's world premiere.
    The 3D movie is based on the third Chronicles of Narnia book and is one of the most beloved stories of the seven-part series.
    It sees the return of Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) and her brother Edmund (Skandar Keynes), who along with their cousin, Eustace are transported back to Narnia through a painting.
    They discover the painting, of a majestic looking boat called The Dawn Treader, in a relative's house in Cambridge, England. Suddenly the room floods with water and they're sucked into the canvas.
    On the other side they find themselves submerged in water in Narnia's Eastern Sea, where they're rescued by King Caspian and his crew aboard The Dawn Treader.
    King Caspian tells them they must find seven lords and the swords given to them by Aslan the lion to protect Narnia. The swords, once collected, will empower them to defeat the witch, played by Tilda Swinton, as well as an evil green mist and save Narnia.
    Lucy, Edmund and Eustace join the mission along with a warrior mouse called Reepicheep, played by Simon Pegg. Together they visit magical lands and creatures, confront their enemies and get to see their beloved lion and ruler of Narnia, Aslan, again.
    Liam Neeson who reprises his role as the voice of Aslan told Reuters Television the lengths he took to prepare for the film.
    "I went to Kenya, Tanzania to see lions in the wild. It was very very fascinating to see. I realise why these creatures are kings of the jungle," he said.
    For Will Poulter, who plays the annoying cousin Eustace, the film was his first big acting experience. He said he was wide-eyed for every minute of it.
    "Oh I mean I could go on all day you know. Everything I did was so much fun for me because I was so inexperienced and I felt kind of like a fan on set, everything kind of made made my jaw drop," he said.
    Skandar Keynes, who plays Edmund, had to balance filming with studying and trying to get into England's prestigious Cambridge University. He succeeded.
    "I was in my last year at school. It was very difficult because I had to do ten hour days and then go and try and finish my A-levels off. But I had tutors who were really great and they really helped me out and yeah it's all sort of worked out," Keynes said.
    Georgie Henley who made her professional acting debut as Lucy Pevensie in the first Narnia film "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe", has blossomed into a confident 15-year-old, whose talents are now being compared to those of Harry Potter actress Emma Watson.
    Henley told Reuters she had a ball making the third instalment of the series.
    "We did plenty of cool stuff. We got to surf every weekend. It's so cool like waking up and seeing the sea. We filmed on a beach and it was Ben's birthday. Ben Barnes and we wrote his name in the sand, we put happy birthday Ben in huge letters in the sand and he came in on a helicopter and saw it," she said.
    Director Michael Apted said he really wanted to nail the magic of the book and do justice to some of the odd locations in CS Lewis's story.
    "Some of the settings are odd and you wanted to tell a real story, a real adventure, and also a story but real relationships and real emotions so it was to get that reality into as well and making it fun," he said.
    The premiere was a royal affair, attended by Queen Elizabeth and her husband, The Duke of Edinburgh.
    On the red carpet, Liam Neeson could be heard joking he was looking forward to seeing the Queen in 3D glasses.
    "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader" hits cinemas across the UK on December 9th.
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