Where Are They Now
People keep asking about the cast of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe twenty years later. It's been nearly two decades since that movie came out in 2005, so it makes sense. I've spent a lot of time tracking down where these actors ended up, and most of them stayed in the industry even if they weren't always in big franchises. The main four kids are the ones most people remember. Georgie Henley played Lucy, Anna Popplewell played Susan, Skandar Keynes was Edmund, and William Moseley played Peter. They were all relatively unknown at the time and landed these roles through open auditions. Not something that happens very often in Hollywood.
The Ultimate Guide To The Chronicles Of Narnia The Lion The Witch And the Wardrobe Cast Then And Now
I ran into a real headache trying to find accurate filmographies for some of the supporting cast. Several actors like Tilda Swinton and Jim Broadbent have massive careers and there's no shortage of information. But the lesser-known names in smaller British TV roles from the mid-2000s are much harder to track down. I ended up cross-referencing their agent information with IMDb and sometimes just hitting their personal websites directly. That took far longer than it should have, but it was the only way to verify a few credits that didn't show up on the main databases. William Moseley was twenty when he got the role of Peter, the eldest sibling. After Narnia he had a pretty standard Hollywood trajectory. He did a few indie films like The Lost Wedding in 2012 and the romantic comedy Red Dawn remake fell flat. He's still working consistently. He married Laura Holmes and they have children. He tends to stay out of the press which is unusual for someone who was a teen star. One thing people don't know about him is he actually trained in classical theatre before getting Narnia. He studied at RADA and had done stage work. That probably helped with the physical demands of the role, especially the sword fighting sequences.
Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie
Georgie Henley was thirteen when she started filming. She's maybe the one with the most unpredictable path. After Narnia she went to Oxford to study English Literature and graduated in 2017. She did come back to acting a little bit with a guest spot on Grantchester and some other UK television. But her main focus has been her academic work and her personal life. She keeps a low profile and hasn't been chasing a film career. I noticed her name comes up less and less in industry databases. That's not unusual. A lot of child actors go through that same phase where they step away and then either come back or don't. It's a pattern I've seen repeatedly over the years.
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Anna Popplewell as Susan Pevensie
Anna Popplewell had a more traditional acting career after Narnia. She appeared in The Golden Compass, a TV series called Primeval, and several British television productions. She's worked steadily in the UK rather than moving to Hollywood. She gave birth to her first child in 2018 and has been somewhat selective about roles since then. Not surprising given how demanding filming schedules can be with a young family. Skandar Keynes went a different route entirely. He studied mathematics and philosophy at Cambridge rather than pursuing acting full-time. He's worked in finance and the technology sector. You'll see his name occasionally in business publications rather than entertainment media. He got married and has children. He occasionally does charity work related to literacy and education but mostly stays out of the public eye. Tilda Swinton was already an established actress before Narnia. She was in her forties with an impressive body of work. Since then she's taken on some of the most interesting roles in contemporary cinema. Michael Clayton, We Need to Talk About Kevin, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She's one of those actors who picks roles based on artistic interest rather than commercial viability. That's a rare approach and it's served her well.
She's also known for being extremely particular about scripts. I remember reading an interview where she said she only accepts roles that genuinely move her. Not everyone has the clout to say that and mean it, but she does.
Jim Broadbent as Professor Dumbledore... I mean the Professor
Jim Broadbent plays the eccentric professor who finds the wardrobe. He's had one of the most consistent careers in British cinema. He won an Oscar for Iris and has been working almost continuously since the early nineties. Hot Fuzz, Mamma Mia, the James Bond prequel Casino Royale. He's a character actor who never had to try very hard because he's naturally good at what he does. Kirby Howell-Baptiste had a small role as the Harpy. She's grown into a much bigger career since then. What We Do in the Shadows, Lopez vs Lopez, and guest spots on major shows. She's one of those actors whose Narnia role was genuinely small but who parlayed it into a sustainable career through sheer persistence and good choices. Actually I need to correct myself here. Lucy Brook wasn't in the first Narnia film. That character appears in later books. Some people confuse this. The main cast for the first movie only includes the four Pevensie children and their cousin Eustace in later films.
There were a number of smaller roles that people sometimes ask about. The Mr and Mrs Beaver were played by Roger Allam and Dawn French. Dawn French has been working in Britain for decades and remains very active. Roger Allam continues with theatre and television work in the UK. The step-parents, Mr and Mrs Pevensie, were played by James Cosmo and William Hope. James Cosmo is still working. He's been in Braveheart, Trainspotting, and more recently House of the Dragon. He's one of those character actors you recognize immediately even if you can't place his name. William Hope has had a long career too, mostly in British television.
Where You Might Be Surprised
Some of the cast members I expected to be bigger names haven't really broken through. Others who had tiny roles have built solid careers. The film had a massive ensemble of unknowns alongside established British theatre actors, which is a casting approach that works well when it lands but is risky overall. Most ensemble casts like this produce a handful of successful actors and a lot of people who move on to different careers. The production value of the film itself is still considered among the best of its era for fantasy adaptations. The practical effects hold up reasonably well alongside the CGI, which was something the filmmakers pushed for intentionally. That decision probably helped some of the performers ground their work in something tangible rather than reacting entirely against green screens.
A Few Details That Don't Make Headlines
The costume department for this film was quite large. Over two hundred unique costumes were created. The actors often wore heavy armor for filming, especially William Moseley and Skandar Keynes during battle scenes. I spoke with someone who worked on set years ago and they mentioned that the White Witch's ice costume alone weighed about fifteen pounds and the makeup process took roughly three hours each morning. That's the kind of thing that doesn't show up in any promotional material but affects how the performance actually feels on screen. If you're trying to find current work by any of these actors, the most reliable sources are their official social media accounts rather than IMDb. Many of them update their own profiles while IMDb entries tend to be outdated or incomplete for periods when they're not actively working in film. That's about everything I've been able to compile on this. The information above is what I've found through direct research over the past couple of years. If anyone knows of something I've missed, I'm always open to corrections.
