Friday, January 19, 2007

"PC" auditions in Burbank

**MILD SPOILERS**

"Caspiankid" submitted the following report about his time auditioning for the role of Prince Caspian in Walden Media’s forthcoming movie "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian", expected to be in theaters in May of 2008.

"I had been working for months to get this audition [for the role of Caspian], and had assumed it was already cast and the chance passed by when I received word that I would, in fact, get to audition. I got the sides right away (which are the script selections with which an actor auditions for the casting director) and was told I would be auditioning for the VP of casting for Buena Vista.

It was here in L.A., up in Burbank to be exact, at the Walt Disney studios lot. Went up to [the V.P. of Casting’s] office, and waited for about an hour and a half (I arrived very early, and had just enough time to finish re-reading the book for the millionth time, as I wanted to be fully brushed-up on the character). Only two other guys arrived during my time in the lobby, and both made it very clear to me that they are in fact looking specifically at darker-featured young men in their early 20s or very late teens. The one guy I talked to was a 22 year old guy from Argentina and really could have passed for 24 or 25. To be quite honest, I was a bit shocked to see someone SO mature in there, but after all, it was just an audition.

It definitely was not a huge open call audition. I ended up finding out from my agent that the Buena Vista people apparently were calling agencies here in L.A. in early December asking for very selective recommendations and pictures, and they finally ended up calling them just last Friday to bring me in for an audition. They clearly are being very selective with who they are willing to see at this point, which would explain the very limited number of guys at the audition while I was there.

The Caspian I read from the script seems to be a bit more humanized, more modernized than the one found in the book. He is still naive, still golden-hearted, but at the same time, a bit more egotistical (as any born prince would naturally be), a bit fool-hearty, and just a bit cocky. Seeing as how they are going for an older Caspian than most would expect, this definitely makes sense. And honestly, the book in and of itself needs a LOT of work to be adapted into a watchable movie. If adapted 100% faithfully, it would be a boring mess. The portions I read seem to indicate some big, but completely necessary alterations. Hopefully it will be the best that could be expected. I really wish they would go darker on this film, but who am I to say or know.

---Caspiankid"

Caspiankid followed up his report by saying that he hopes he hasn’t offended anyone by giving NarniaWeb his information (rather than other sources), that he was privileged to represent the fans of Narnia in the audition process, and that he hopes to share his enthusiasm for the books and the movie with everyone if he is cast in the role of Caspian.

Thanks to Caspiankid for sending in your report!

Friday, January 12, 2007

Narnia executive scouting New Zealand for locations

By Sue Fea - The Southland Times

A busload of about 40 people, all understood to be heads of department for the second Chronicles of Narnia movie from throughout the world, were driven around Paradise, the stunning backdrop for some of the most dramatic scenes in The Lord of the Rings rtrilogy.

The Southland Times understands Dart River Safaris vans had to transport the group up some of the narrow roads into the Paradise Valley, unable to be negotiated by the Pacific Travel coach they were believed to be travelling in.

Film industry sources were unable to confirm any location scouting in the Glenorchy area yesterday for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian movie, based on the second of CS Lewis’s Narnia books.

However, Department of Conservation communications officer Nick Edwards said movie representatives had approached the department to discuss possible locations in the Wakatipu, particularly Glenorchy.