After sharing several long snippets and images this past week, Empire Magazine has finally published their full feature about their visit to the set of Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew.
The story includes new images of Digory and Polly in the attic, Uncle Andrew interacting with Digory and Polly at the front door, and Digory snuggling with his mother in bed. The images have not been released online yet.
The feature is long and wide-ranging. Read on for a short summary of the highlights:
Story Points
Digory’s mother is named Flora instead of Mabel. Flora was the name of C.S. Lewis’s mother that died of cancer when he was nine years old. (According to our sources, one of Polly’s sisters will be named Mabel)
Digory and Polly are neighbors, as in the book. Empire visited the set of the kitchen in Polly’s house.
The Charn set, Empire says, “looks, perhaps uncoincidentally, like an exploded pinball machine. Lights flash orange and green, huge chrome orbs are pushed into the ceiling. The set is rooted in technology and art that felt full of wonder during the time that The Magician’s Nephew is set in.”
“Aslan is this cosmic lion that is awesome,” Gerwig says. “Like, awesome in more of an antique sense — filled with awe — and the valence isn’t always delight. It’s also something that’s powerful and big, but it can also be frightening.”
Behind the Scenes
Gerwig approached Netflix in 2020 and suggested they start with The Magician’s Nephew. “If you take the seven books together, it’s about the life and death of a universe,” she told them.
During the casting process, David McKenna (Digory) and Beatrice Campbell (Polly) teared up as Greta Gerwig explained how C.S. Lewis lost his mother to cancer.
Gerwig had a dream about Meryl Streep playing Aslan. “It felt fitting to me, as Lewis wrote about dreaming of lions when he first began writing the Narnia books.”
During filming, Meryl Streep would stand on a ladder and read Aslan’s dialogue.
Gerwig was present when Streep recorded her vocal cameo for Project Hail Mary, which was also produced by Amy Pascal.
When Daniel Craig (Uncle Andrew) was eight years old, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was the first book he read cover-to-cover.
You can read the full feature by purchasing a copy of the November edition of Empire Magazine in stores tomorrow.
Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew releases worldwide in 142 days (February 12).