William Moseley

Interview By: Rocco Passafuime
RoccoPassafuime@TheCinemaSource.com

An exciting element of Hollywood adapting a British book series like The Chronicles Of Narnia is the opportunity for young talent of the region to be granted an unprecedented worldwide audience. One such young British performer is William Moseley, who reprises his role as Peter Pevensie in the new adaptation of the second Narnia book in the series, Prince Caspian.

William first explained to us about time about how things had changed from working on the first film The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe.

'Coming back to Narnia, it was a completely different experience,' Moseley claims, 'The first one, really, I auditioned, auditioned, auditioned. Finally, we got out to New Zealand and worked. For this one, [director] Andrew [Stanton] said to me at the beginning that your character is going to be very, very different. He's not going to be the nice, selfless character he was in the first film.'

'So, I thought, well, I'd love to work on that, so in New York, I worked with Sheila Gray, an acting coach out there, and I really got in touch with a lot of the darker, deeper stuff of my character,' he continues, 'And also, in myself, so when I could go on, I could really perform and give everything I had to this role. And so, the film's a lot more physical, obviously, so I worked with a boxing trainer there at Gleason's Gym, which is this kind of underground gym in Brooklyn. And I worked as hard as I could there. I was really, really pleased with the outcome of the film.'

William says that Andrew Stanton is an essential part of what has made Disney's adaptation of The Chronicles Of Narnia work as films.

'Andrew is an excellent director and I think we would all agree he really brings you into Narnia,' he says, 'With the music, with the editing, with the shots, and the composition, he really creates a wonderful world and just being able to watch that and see that and see my hard work that's paid off, it was a great relief, but it was also a really humbling moment for me. I really felt privileged to be part of such a spectacle.'

One of the distinctive elements of The Chronicles Of Narnia book series is its very symbolic Christian messages. We asked Moseley what he felt was the kind of message Peter conveys to the audience in Prince Caspian.

'I think, as we've seen in history, a lot of leaders who'd fallen in their own ego, I think most empires have fallen through their own ego,' he believes, 'We got the Roman Empire, the British Empire, I'm not going to talk about the American Empire (nervously laughing), but it happens. I think the most important thing that Peter has to learn is humility as a leader. He has to serve other people and not serve himself.'

'I think it's stuck in his mind that he's this great, wonderful hero from 1,300 years ago,' William adds, 'He's got to prove himself again. He's got to have this humility that everybody's heard so much about again. So I think I would liked to have conveyed the message of humility from a leader.'

An element that makes Prince Caspian particularly different is its medieval-style battle sequences, which William particularly enjoyed.

'I love it. I absolutely love it,' Moseley says, 'And the sword's actually aluminum, so it's very, very light. For me, it's the most empowering and it's a really good way for me to express myself because you can put all your tension and anxiety into this fighting sequence. You can really use it. It's exciting to learn this stuff from these incredible stunt trainers and have guys dying around you at every moment. It's just really, really fun. I really enjoyed it.'

Another interesting aspect of Prince Caspian, Moseley claims, is the rivalry between Peter and the title character, played by newcomer Ben Barnes.

'It was the first time I met Ben Barnes and I was kind of anxious about meeting him,' William says, 'I remember the first time I saw him and he was playing with Georgie Henley and I thought, that's kind of weird, because I always play with her (laughing). So I actually met him and he was a really cool, down-to-earth guy and I was like, this is good, this is someone I can trust.'

'And then, this was someone my own age, I can go out with, go for a drink and chat with about the previous week,' he asked, 'And also, Caspian and Peter have this rivalry, so you have to have a trust with the other actor. You have to be able to really let go with them and they have to be able to really let go with you and have this chemistry. So it was great that they chose Ben Barnes, because I can't imagine doing it with anyone else.'

William also claims doing the film with his cast was equally exciting both on and off set.

'We were in New Zealand and I heard about this incredible bungee jump you could do,' he recalls, 'It was literally two weeks into filming, so I said to Skandar [Keynes], 'I'm going to do this and bungee jump,' because it was literally 120 meters and 250 feet freefall and it's huge. And Skandar is afraid of heights and he said, 'I want to do it.' And I'm like, 'Are you sure'' And he's like, 'I don't have any money. I'll pay for you.' And his mum wasn't there at the time and he told her later that night.'

'Skandar's mother's cell phone was like, 'I can't believe you did that! Why would you book it for so early in the morning'' (Laughing)' Moseley continues, 'She really didn't care that he was bungee jumping. What she cared about was that she booked it for so early in the morning and she didn't have breakfast with him the next day. But we went off the next day and we both had a very different experience. Skandar was positively green before he jumped out and I came back over and I never seen him so happy. His face was lit up and for me, I saw it as a very spiritual experience. We had it on set, just as simple as it was.'

However, despite he and his cast mates generating an international audience on what is now the second of a burgeoning Hollywood franchise, William claims that when it all ends, their lives are hardly different from when they started doing the first film.

'We're just four normal kids doing this huge thing from here on out, but we're just four normal people who had these amazing opportunities through the Wardrobe experience,' Moseley says, 'And then we go back to reality and back again, but the more important thing, I think, is to have some humor with it, not take it all too seriously, to enjoy it. Because the most important thing about drama, for any kid that's reading this, is to enjoy it. I think that's what we did and I think that's what really kept the on-set buzz.'

He also says that their close ties to their families as well as with each other are the key ingredients to what keeps the cast of Narnia's feet on the ground.

'I think what's great about this is even though this is called Prince Caspian and it is The Chronicles Of Narnia, it's everything in one and there's not just one person, so if one is taking it a little bit too far, the rest of us will help bring them back down to Earth,' William believes.

'And also, we come from pretty grounded families,' he adds, 'Our families are so supportive, so grounded, we all have siblings, we all have other kids, and it was never really about ego for us. It was always about enjoy it, being there for each other, and having a good time, and doing hard work, doing good work, so as long as you keep that into perspective, I don't think you have any problem.'

However, Prince Caspian is the last story which will feature Peter. The now 21 year-old actor explains of the parallels between how his character has outgrown Narnia and how he himself has outgrown the series.

'For me, as you know, the characters leave Narnia, Peter and Susan, they've grown out of this world, they've learned what they can,' he explains, 'For me, it was a very powerful experience actually. I've learned what I can from Narnia as well and I want to move on and do something interesting and just improve.'

'As an actor, you always want to be challenging yourself,' Moseley continues, 'You always want to be doing something different, something that's a little bit beyond you, so you have to work that extra bit harder, so I'm ready for whatever comes my way next.'

However, Moseley claims that he is unsure at the present time of where he plans to go next with his acting career.

'There's a few things in the pipeline, but I don't want to curse it, so I'm not going to talk about it,' William says.