Hold on to your hearts ladies, we’ve got a new hottie here just waiting to get your tickers a-fluttering. Ben Barnes is the soft-spoken, dreamily handsome star of Prince Caspian, and we just can’t get enough of him. All brown eyes and floppy hair, no wonder he’s being called the new Orlando Bloom. We caught up with him for a swoon… oops, we mean chat… about the role catapulting him to Hollywood fame.
Where were you when you found out you got the part of Prince Caspian?
I was in bed because it was about four o’clock in the morning! It was American time when they found out, so middle of the night here. I was literally running round the house screaming with the phone to my ear!
Were you expecting the call that day?
I was waiting for it but I didn’t know it was gonna come in the middle of the night! It was only about a week after my audition anyway, but I thought I’d find out sooner. So there was this nauseating intensity of a time period when I didn’t know what was going to happen to me. And then it finally came and I was slightly… delirious. I still feel a little bit like that now and it’s over a year later now! I can’t believe it!
Were you a fan of the Narnia books?
Yeah I was. When I got the part I found my old copy, it was from 1989 and it had my handwriting in it saying Benjamin Barnes. And it had a little sticker saying ‘I can’t bear to be without my books’ and it had a little picture of a bear.
Aww, how sweet!
Haha …yeah it was kind of cute to go and find that again. I was also a big fan of the TV series cos I was eight when that came out and for an eight year old there’s nothing more magical than Narnia. I mean fantasy creatures and kids with swords, I can’t really praise it highly enough. It’s got a good moral message and it’s also got a really good story. So yeah I was definitely a big fan!
What memory from the filming will you look back at in twenty years and think, “Wow that was amazing!’?
Ooh good question! Hmm… I mean those moments tend to catch you by surprise. There were a couple of moments where I thought, ‘I’m so lucky to be here’. And one of them was when I walked onto the castle set… they built a castle! On the back lot of the studio in Prague!
Wow!
I know! From the outside it looked like a football stadium or something, it was just like wooden and scaffolding. But then you walked through the door and you were in a castle! It just took my breath away, I mean… well you can… I don’t even know what to say about it now, let alone then! And then I thought, ‘the book’s called Prince Caspian, I’m playing Prince Caspian, and this is my castle.’ And then there was someone waiting with my horse and someone waiting with my sword, and I just thought, ‘I’m so lucky!’ So that was a big one. But there were lots. I mean they happened almost on a daily basis, but that was the one that really stood out for me.
Were there any jokes on the set or was it quite a serious cast?
There were lots of jokes! There were kids around, so we had to keep it lighthearted and give it a kind of family feel. A lot of the jokes were more adult and inappropriate… we were playing tricks on each other and stuff!
What kind of tricks?
Um, well I had a scene where I was lying in bed and my professor comes along and wakes me up, right at the beginning of the film. And instead of him coming to wake me up, one time the director’s assistant decided she’d come and jump into bed with me, and instead of just putting her hand on my mouth she kissed me! So that took me by surprise! And obviously my reaction was… well I thought my professor was kissing me, so when I found out it was her it was a big relief!
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