Casting The Pevensie Children For Greta Gerwig’s Chronicles Of Narnia Reboot

Casting the children of the Pevensie family well will be one of the most important tasks for Greta Gerwig and her team to accomplish with the reboot of The Chronicles of Narnia. Following the cultural phenomenon of Barbie, the acclaimed director was contracted to write and direct the first two movies in Netflix’s reboot of C.S. Lewis’ classic fantasy series. While some actors who often work with Gerwig would be well-suited to the roles of the older characters, the Pevensie children and their cousin Eustace are likely to be played by relatively unknown younger actors.

However, Gerwig’s Narnia should cast the children as slightly older than they are in the books, as the previous Narnia movies did. Netflix’s adaptation would benefit from repeating how Disney cast the characters because making the Pevensie children only a few years older makes it more plausible that they can handle the conflicts depicted in the story. Yet the Pevensies and Eustace still being children is important, as themes of childhood and innocence are essential. Each child’s distinct personality serves a different role in the story because of how they each become one of Narnia’s heroes.

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Elliot Grihault As Peter Pevensie

Alternates: Levi Miller & Cory Gruter Andrew

Peter is the most classically heroic of the Pevensie siblings and the de facto leader. As he is played by William Moseley in the Disney movies, Peter wants to be a soldier and a hero but is understandably terrified when these responsibilities do fall upon him. The actor playing Peter needs to show his uncertainty when he is first thrust into the role of Narnia’s leader, but also how he faces his fears and eventually becomes accustomed to being a king. By the time of Prince Caspian, Peter is a natural leader but still struggles with the pressure to save the Narnians.

Elliot Grihault’s arc as Lucerys Velaryon in House of the Dragon can be seen as the same as Peter’s journey but cut short by Luke’s brutal death at Aemond Targaryen’s hands. Luke is hesitant to become the Lord of Driftmark because of the enormous responsibility of upholding his family’s legacy, as well as the circling questions about his and his brothers’ paternity. While his brother Jacaerys is committed to preparing to be king, Luke appears to be the more contemplative of the two. It is a comparison that recalls Peter and Edmund’s different personalities, suggesting that Grihault might even be better at playing Edmund.

However, without this comparison, Grihault’s thoughtfulness on screen would be a strength in playing the hero of a story inherently about heroism and goodness. Alternatively, Levi Miller played a similarly wide-eyed, unexpected hero in Pan, but has since played more mature characters in A Wrinkle in Time and American Exit, demonstrating a good combination of character traits that could be applied to Peter. On the other hand, Cory Gruter-Andrew’s quiet stoicism as Cole in Anne With An E also makes him perfect to play the eldest Pevensie.

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Florence Hunt As Susan Pevensie

Alternates: Mckenna Grace & Abby Ryder Forston

Susan’s characterization was drastically changed from the books for previous Narnia movies: In the books, she hates battle, while in the movies, she is a skilled soldier with a hand in many of the action scenes. Regardless of how Gerwig uses Susan’s archery skills in the plot, Susan’s sophisticated persona and skepticism are an important part of the story. Susan is the most logical of the Pevensies, serving as a direct foil to her sister Lucy’s unwavering faith in what she cannot see.

Florence Hunt perhaps hasn’t had the time to show off her talents in Bridgerton, because she is the youngest of all the Bridgerton siblings and has little screen time while the story focuses on the older Bridgertons. However, Netflix has hardly failed to find talented actors to play the older characters and Hunt is likely just as talented, all the while gaining more experience from being on the set of Bridgerton. Hunt also played a young Nimue in Netflix’s dark Arthurian fantasy Cursed. Although these brief scenes were long ago, Hunt at least has some experience of acting out dangerous fantasy situations.

Because of her association in pop culture with the youngest sibling character, people might think of Hunt as the perfect choice for Lucy; however, she is 17 years old when Susan is probably supposed to be 14 or 15, even younger in the books. Gerwig might also consider Mckenna Grace to play Susan due to her wide-ranging genre and character versatility, or Abby Ryder Forston, the star of the intergenerational comedy-drama Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Any of these actresses with the capability to play a thoughtful young woman who questions everything could be Susan.

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Walker Scobell As Edmund Pevensie

Alternates: Jacob Tremblay & Blue Landau

The actor playing Edmund has their work cut out for them, as Edmund is probably the most complex of the group. Jacob Tremblay has been the go-to child actor for Oscar-contender dramas for years and is a safe choice to live up to Skandar Keynes’ performance. However, Walker Scobell is becoming a better actor every day, working with more and more talented veterans. After his breakout role starring alongside Ryan Reynolds in The Adam Project, Scobell won the coveted role of Percy Jackson in Disney’s reboot TV show of the popular book series.

Scobell plays a version of Percy that lives up to Rick Riordan’s books, demonstrating his sarcasm, naïveté, and compassion. Scobell will have even more chances with storylines in Percy Jackson and the Olympians season 2 and beyond to show what he can do as a dramatic actor. Edmund’s character arc is at first characterized by a completely childlike selfishness, but in both the book and the previous movie, he is key in the White Witch’s defeat because of his dedication to making up for what he has done. After that, Edmund becomes known in Narnia as the more reserved and strategic king.

The Prince Caspian movie does an excellent job of showing what Edmund is like after all the drama of his arc in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Having learned from his mistakes, Edmund stands up for Lucy when the others do not and is a level-headed soldier throughout the conflict. Playing Edmund would be a change for Scobell from Percy’s comedic reactions, but he has the potential to shine as a new, distinct character. Another possibility to play Edmund is Bleu Landau, whose experience with drama from King Arthur: The Legend of the Sword would be valuable.

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Lexi Rabe As Lucy Pevensie

Alternates: Brooke Carter & May Nivola

The little girl who played Tony Stark’s daughter in Avengers: Endgame is already 11 years old, making her the perfect age to play Lucy. The same year this movie came out, Lexi Rabe made an appearance in Godzilla: King of Monsters as a younger version of Millie Bobby Brown’s character. Since then, she has appeared in a few more under-the-radar movies and has some other projects coming up. Rabe is an adorable young actress who is learning the craft as she grows up, and could perfectly portray Lucy’s character.

Lucy is the heart of the Narnia story. She is the inciting incident for the Pevensies’ adventures, as she is the one who discovers Narnia. She believes in the idea of Narnia and Aslan more than anyone else in her family. Lucy’s awe upon discovering the forest in the back of a wardrobe is what inspires a sense of wonder in the audience. It seems like a reaction that is easy enough for a child actor to play, and audiences would doubtlessly be delighted to see Rabe again when she would make a delightful Lucy.

Other possibilities to play Lucy who are older include Brooke Carter and May Nivola. Carter recently starred alongside Brown in Damsel, as Elodie’s younger sister Floria. Floria is generally a sweet if static younger sister character, but Carter’s performance of the sisters’ relationship and being kidnapped could be transferred to Narnia. On the other hand, May Nivola starred alongside Gerwig in her partner Noah Baumbach’s White Noise. Nivola hasn’t done any new projects since, but Gerwig may be eager to work with her again.

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Roman Griffin Davis As Eustace Scrubb

Alternates: Iain Armitage & Louis Ashbourne Serkis

Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader famously opens with the line: “There once was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it.” Indeed, the actor playing Eustace faces the challenge of being completely unlikable in the beginning but still needing to win the audience over later on. This is especially true if this actor will have to carry future sequels alongside whoever is playing Jill Pole. Edmund’s betrayal can at least partially be blamed on the magic of the White Witch, while Eustace’s disagreeable disposition is entirely his own — making him even more difficult to play.

The actors Roman Griffin Davis, Iain Armitage, and Louis Ashbourne Serkis are all known for playing characters who are irritating but still have the sympathetic charm of children. Davis is probably the strongest choice to play Eustace because he is an Oscar-nominee-level star, with his main claim to fame being starring alongside Taika Waititi and Scarlett Johansson in the World War II satire Jojo Rabbit. However, Armitage and Serkis both have leading actor energy that would make either of them a worthy addition to the extended Pevensie family.

Armitage has led Young Sheldon for seven seasons now as the boy genius who is always getting on his family’s nerves. Meanwhile, Serkis starred as the unlikely hero of the goofy Arthurian adventure The Kid Who Would Be King. Both of them could play a stumbling version of Eustace who is completely out of his element in Narnia but becomes a beloved member of the cast. The casting of the Pevensie siblings and their cousin for Gerwig’s reboot of The Chronicles of Narnia is likely to include some surprises, but they will all hopefully live up to these classic characters.