Questions and Answers. Basically any question you can think of is asked and answered here. Interview took place Decomber 9, 2005.


CS!: Can you tell us about yourself?
Anna Popplewell: I lived in London with my family. I go to an all-girl school there. I got into The Lion and the Witch after a long casting process. It was like 18 months, 2 years. I originally went to meetings just to set up any auditions and then kept going back and back and back until I was screen tested. And that was that.

CS!: And they said, "Anna's the one we want!"
Popplewell: Well, I hope so otherwise they've got some wrong names.

CS!: When you got the role, how did you prepare for it?
Popplewell: I reread the books a few times and worked on the scripts. And we had a rehearsal period in New Zealand and got to read through in the UK.

CS!: So, you had read the books before?
Popplewell: When I was younger I read all seven. During the casting I reread "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe". And then after I got the role I reread them all. I'm a big fan of the books.

CS!: How did you start the production?
Popplewell: After a few weeks of readings we had fittings and had tests and those kinds of things. Then we all flew out to New Zealand and finished up tests and rehearsals there and then starting shooting. We shot for four months in Auckland and then we were down in South Island and Akaroa and then in Christ's Church.

CS!: Did you leave there and go to the Czech Republic?
Popplewell: Yeah, we finished shooting in December and went to the Czech Republic early this year. It was fun. I love traveling. It was fun to get to see new faces and do new things.

CS!: You went to some pretty spectacular places.
Popplewell: The scenery in the South Island is absolutely incredible. It's something that I was really happy to get the opportunity to see. It's really beautiful there.

CS!: How long did it take you to film?
Popplewell: I was in New Zealand for six months - pretty much to the day. It was six months. And then in Prague, I was there for two weeks.

CS!: How did the acting go? What did you most enjoy about the process?
Popplewell: The most enjoyable thing about the process of being on that set was the number of really wonderful people. We were so lucky we had such a great crew and great cast and a really nice set of people from the top right down. We were really lucky. It was a really nice set to be on. A great atmosphere. And really good fun. That was one of the best things about the experience…meeting all those people.

CS!: On set there were lots of people in lots of costumes. Monsters and centaurs and minotaurs and all kinds.
Popplewell: There were. There are all sorts of things. It was great. We had the most bizarre lunch tent. You'd be sitting down having lunch with ogres and centaurs and goblins and everything. It was great…it was a very cool tent.

CS!: And you're dressed in a World War II period outfit, right?
Popplewell: For the start of the film we have our 1930's, 40's costumes - which is war time period English clothes. And then we get the fur coats. And once we get into Narnia we get our Narnian clothes.

CS!: All of the monsters, all of the creatures around…but, no Aslan on the set.
Popplewell: We had a model Aslan for one scene. For the stone table we had a model Aslan for that. An animatronics one. Which was pretty amazing. And the rest was CGI.

CS!: How did you do the CGI stuff? Was it hard?
Popplewell: It's slightly bizarre acting to nothing. We tried lots of different ways. We had people reading in with eye lines. We had ping pong balls on sticks. And fluorescent markers and all sorts of thing. And it got easier. It was a new experience.

CS!: What was it like working with director Andrew Adamson?
Popplewell: It was fantastic. I think there are high expectations and he meets all of them and exceeds them. He's a really nice man, a really great director. He really knew how to approach all of us as individuals. Especially, you know there could be the danger of us being "the kids" as a unit of four, but he really spoke to all of us in different ways. He had to work with us all differently. He's just a really nice man. And he loves what he does and it really shows.

CS!: Do you have any stories about your favorite time on the set?
Popplewell: We had lots. One of the fun days that we had soon after we arrived was little Georgie's birthday when she turned nine. And she was away from home. It was soon after the start of the shoot…about the fifth of July. And it was just so fun watching her have so much attention. I've never seen a nine-year-old have a birthday like that. It was just huge, huge. If you can imagine 400 people on set, everyone sang happy birthday. And then we changed because we had shootings while we were on set. And we changed our cast room into a party room and spent the day in between shots making cake and biscuits and threw this huge surprise party in there and it was just really cool to see her face…we all got along really well. Even being different ages, it was like a mini family. It was great.

CS!: Are you missing them yet?
Popplewell: I still see them and speak to them. We keep in touch which is really nice.

CS!: Have you signed for sequels?
Popplewell: I don't know if the sequels are happening yet. It's kind of all in the talking stages I think. I think it just depends on this film and what the viewers think afterwards.

CS!: What's next for you?
Popplewell: I'm back in school. I'm keeping my eyes open and seeing what's happening. But, I'm just taking everything as it comes. Yep - back to reality.

CS!: What will you take away from the film?
Popplewell: A lot of happy memories. It was a huge learning experience in terms of being on set. And the really great times.

CS!: What do you hope that the audience will take away?
Popplewell: I know there are a lot of expectations for this film and I hope we have met all of that. I hope people will enjoy all the effort that's gone into the sets and the costumes and costume directing and makeup and all that. And that it matches people's expectations.

CS!: Have you visited any of the fan web sites?
Popplewell: I've seen a couple. I've seen NarniaWeb a while back. But, there seems to be a lot of internet support which is great…I don't think anyone has posted messages on there. Anyhoo. I think we're all aware of the internet. Which is really nice and we all really appreciate it.