Meet the Prince of Narnia
English actor, Ben Barnes, has been described as low-key and unassuming. He is virtually an unknown to many American movie-goers, except perhaps seeing him for a few minutes in the fantasy film, Stardust. But he is an accomplished stage actor in the UK.
Like most actors, Ben Barnes did try to make it into Hollywood and won his first role as a lifeguard who eventually gets killed by a
shark. Between odd-jobs like babysitting and crashing in friend’s apartment, in February of 2007, Ben finally received a call from what would have to be his biggest break: Disney wanted him to play the role of Prince Caspian.
Now signed on for a three picture deal, he is also going to appear in the Narnia series’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair, which should be running in the theaters in 2010.
To prepare for his role, Ben Barnes had weeks of training in New Zealand. Prince Caspian’s role called of a Spanish speaking character, so Ben Barnes reportedly had to learn to speak in a Spanish accent and patterned this after the character Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) from the Princess Bride.
In July of this year, he’s also set to start working on Dorian Gray which is an adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s iconic play. THR is reporting that the film will be directed by Oliver Parker (The Importance of Being Earnest) and it will be “a visceral, dark horror story”.
In a way, his career path is likened to that of Orlando Bloom, who became an overnight sensation, thanks to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.
Get to know Ben Barnes in this interview with Jimmy Kimmel from last week. They have a clip of him during his boy band days, too!
Ben Barnes, Prince Caspian, Dorian Gray
Leave a Reply