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Georgie Henley & James McAvoy on "The Chronicles of Narnia"
Be he human or be he faun, a shirtless guy hanging out with a little girl could be- as one journalist eloquently put it- “really creepy.” But as embodied by rising Scottish star James McAvoy, C.S. Lewis’ morally torn Mr. Tumnus is charming enough to lure little Lucy Pevensie into his home for tea, and I’m not thinking “pedophile.” As played by ten-year-old newcomer Georgie Henley, Lucy is endearing enough to stall his initially sinister motives.
Gleefully displaying her very own action figure, Henley told press about “cringy” moments onset, while McAvoy, who stole scenes in recent films like “Wimbledon” and “Rory O’Shea Was Here,” riled up his pint-sized costar. They make an odd pair, but their rapport is indisputably winning, onscreen and off.
Q: Why does Lucy follow Mr. Tumnus home?
GEORGIE: She does it because she really trusts in Mr. Tumnus. They’re almost like long lost friends, and there’s no point in having long lost friends if you don’t go into tea with them.
JAMES: The thing that is so special about them is they’re nearly the same person in a lot of ways, even though he’s 150 and she’s eight years old. When they meet each other it is fast friends immediately. It’s quite unviable to make friends that quickly, but we have to believe it can happen. But if you can’t believe two people can become friends that quickly, then don’t watch the rest of the film.
GEORGIE: They connect.
JAMES: Yes, they connect in a really fundamental way, because they’re very similar people.
Q: How did shooting in chronological order help you?
GEORGIE: We got more mature, really. I was a bit of a spitfire on set, I was really hyper on set, wasn’t I?
JAMES: You were a bit hyper on set. But I didn’t help, I was jumping around like I was seven.
GEORGIE: You were? It did help me.
JAMES: I think so. You guys got more experienced, more chilled out. And you got so much more comfortable by the end.
GEORGIE: And you became more faun-ey. More goat-like.
JAMES: My beard got longer.
GEORGIE: The thing is, when you see a goat, they actually don’t curl under like Mr. Tumnus’, they actually don’t go like that. He’s already growing a beard, see?
JAMES: I’m starting to. But that was my favorite thing, watching you grow. They actually grew inches during this film.
Q: Did you keep track on the wall?
GEORGIE: Yeah. Skandar (Keynes) grew six and a half inches, I did four inches, William (Moseley) grew two inches, and Anna (Popplewell) grew a half an inch.
Q: How did they keep up with your costumes?
GEORGIE: They just…had to keep doing them again and again and again. It was so weird, do you remember when Will stood up and his fur coat ripped in the back? So wardrobe was, like, seriously stressing, because these were real fur coats.
Q: James, did you want Mr. Tumnus to wear a shirt for the coronation?
JAMES: No, he’s too scruffy for that, my friend.
GEORGIE: Scruffy!
JAMES: Well, you know, it’s the faun’s way, isn’t it? Classically speaking, fauns are followers of Dionysus and Bacchus and they make reference to that in the book. They were free, they were unrestricted, they were drunken. It was all about being open. That’s why, I think, it was a good choice to make Tumnus a faun, because he’s about openness, which is what he and Lucy have in common.
Q: Was it a challenge to spend all your time onset shirtless and covered in fake hair?
JAMES: You know, I was covered in glue, and it was sometimes quite painful and the hair would fall off, and the whole day became about maintaining it. It was a bit of a challenge, but to get to play Mr. Tumnus it was completely worth it. And also, I wasn’t there every single day, so it wasn’t that much of a pain in the butt.
Q: Georgie, was the waterfall scene hard to shoot?
GEORGIE: Yeah, they kept throwing water…the ice was on hydrolics, and every time Anna stood on a hydrolic, the water managed to spray up her skirt! So she wasn’t sure whether they did it on accident or did it on purpose.
Q: Did anything like that happen to you?
GEORGIE: I had some pretty cringy moments at times. Quite embarrassing. Like when I was sitting by a fire and the three of us are sitting and eating our cheese and jam sandwiches- which are gorgeous! Cheese and jam are really nice. Cheese and apple as well. Cheese and grapes are good. Anyway, they kept saying “Georgie! Georgie!” because my fur coat kept opening and you could see my bloomers!
Q: What was it like acting against nothing?
GEORGIE: It’s actually all right, isn’t it?
JAMES: You get used to it.
GEORGIE: Because I had to pretend I was totally astounded by your legs, didn’t I? And I was totally astounded by your makeup, but when you look down it was just green tights and a mass of ping pong balls.
Q: “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe” is a great fantasy. What’s your favorite fantasy movie?
GEORGIE: This is actually a Disney film. “Sleeping Beauty.” That is actually my favorite Disney princess movie. Ever, because, that evil woman Melificent, she scared the living…I used to go to bed and have nightmares about her. And hear her talking purple raven, and when she hypnotizes Sleeping Beauty she’s like “Come to me, come to me…”
JAMES: I’ll tell you what my favorite movie is. Because I’m so desperate. “The Goonies.”
Q: Did you like filming in New Zealand?
GEORGIE: New Zealand inspired me to write two books on set. One is called “The Snow Stag,” and one is about an artic island, called “The Pillow of Secrets,” and I sold that to charity and I made about $350 for WWF- not the wrestling fund! The wildlife fund.
Q: Do you want to get them published?
GEORGIE: I want to set them up to publish when I’m older, when I’m a teenager. So I’m going to keep them safe. And I’m writing a story at the moment called “The Diary of a Bully,” which describes a boy who is bullied, and it is a diary, and it involves the police, and gets quite serious, and it’s an in-depth book. It’s quite disturbing.
Q: What was the hardest thing about filming movie?
GEORGIE: Being away from my friends and family.
JAMES: Yeah, being away from my loved ones for so long. You know, New Zealand is twelve hours from LA, but it’s twenty four hours from London. I couldn’t go home for a few days, it was difficult. It’s hard to call. Emails are the best way.
GEORGIE: Emails and phone calls. And letters. I wrote letters to school.
Q: Was it hard to leave after working together for so long?
GEORGIE: Yeah, we were apart for about two or three weeks before Prague. And then after that we were apart for seven months. Me and James were apart for seven months.
Q: James, can you tell us about “The Last King of Scotland”?
JAMES: I play Nicholas, the right hand man of Idi Amin; he’s young, idealistic, and he gets in way over his head before he knows it he realizes the country’s torn itself apart. And he tries to get out and realizes he can’t.
Q: What will we see you in next?
JAMES: There’s “Last King,” a show called “Macbeth,” and a movie called “Starter for Ten.” And a movie called “Significant Others,” which is a romantic comedy.
Georgie Henley & James McAvoy on "SCI FI Weekly"
Georgie Henley, were you surprised the first time you saw James McAvoy in makeup?
Henley: It was really cool. I was a bit shocked at first. "What have they done to James?" But, you know, you do get used to it.
McAvoy: Yeah.
Henley: Don't you?
McAvoy: Yeah.
The ears on Mr. Tumnus were cute.
McAvoy: The ears were weird, man.
Were they uncomfortable?
McAvoy: I don't like the ears.
Henley: Your ears were cool, though.
Georgie, you're playing with your Happy Meal action figure. How odd is it to have one of those? Not a lot of people do.
Henley: No, not a lot of people do. It's a little bit strange, especially when you're carrying a parcel. Don't see what's the point in that. But it's pretty cool.
For the both of you. What do you relate to most about your character?
Henley: What I love about Lucy is she's so pure. She's very trusting and brave and forgiving and basically loving and loyal. She's not exactly perfect, but she's a lovely little girl. And like I said, she is very pure, and that's one of the best qualities I think that any person could have, to be very pure.
McAvoy: When Lucy comes to Narnia she rekindles something in Tumnus, and Tumnus has a lot in common with Lucy in that he's able to love and give friendship kind of indiscriminately. That's what I love most about him. But he's kind of given up a little. He's taken employ under the White Witch and he's given up. He thinks everything gone. He's lost hope. She comes back and his hope is kind of rekindled. He starts to question himself and what he's capable of in a bad way and in a good way, and then he tries to be as perfect as she is.
Please send any information to justgeorgie@gmail.com.