Mod Note: Just now realizing that this discussion belongs in Cast and Character Discussion. Moved.

I have no idea what's in store for Narnia in the 2020's: I just know that when we get word on what the plan is in adaptating the books, I'll be making ALL SORTS of weird predictions!

Welcome to the club.

I'm a little surprised, but Caspian's age is a bit of a sticking point for me — I think it's because he seems a lot more childlike in PC, and is coming into his own as king in VDT. It feels like there should be more of an age difference there. Maybe the most straightforward solution is to cast a younger actor for Caspian in the early PC scenes when his Nurse is still around and when he first meets Doctor Cornelius.

I think both the BBC Mini Series and the Walden/Disney Trilogy aged up the kids. I wonder if Walden/Disney's excuse of aging up the Pevensies is so that Caspian and Susan could have a romance. I'm not oppose to Netflix aging up the kids, because no adaptation is perfect.

The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe

Peter- 13-28

Susan- 12-27

Edmund- 10-25

Lucy- 8-23

Digory- 52

Mr. Tumnus- Not known but most likely a 100 years old (Fauns are known to live longer than humans)

The White Witch- Immortal (due to eating the Apple of Youth in The Magician's Nephew) though killed in battle

Mr. and Mrs. Beaver- Not known but are described as being old

The Dwarf- Not known

Maugrim/Fenris Ulf- Not Known

Father Christmas- Most Likely Immortal

 

Prince Caspian:

Peter- 14

Susan- 13

Edmund- 11

Lucy- 9

Caspian- 13

King Miraz- Not known (most likely 30's or 40's)

Queen Prunaprismia- Not known (most likely 30's or 40's)

Doctor Cornelius- Not known (most likely 60's or 70's)

Trumpkin- Not known

Trufflehunter- Not known

Nikkibriki- Not known

Pattertwig- Not known

Reepicheep- Not Known

Glenstorm- Not known

Lord Sospesian- Not known

Lord Glozelle- Not known

Gwendolene- Not known (most likely around Caspian's age)

Miss Prizzle- Not known

School Mistress- Not known

Caspian's Nurse- Not known (most likely around same age as Doctor Cornelius)

 

Voyage of the Dawn Treader:

Peter- 15 (though doesn't make an appearance

Susan- 14 (though doesn't make an appearance)

Edmund- 12

Lucy- 10

Eustace- 9

Digory- 54 (though doesn't make an appearance)

Caspian- 16

Lord Drinian- not known (most likely in his 30's)

Rhince- not known (most likely in his 30's)

Rynelf- not known (most likely 20's or 30's)

Reepicheep- Not Known

Pug- not known

Taks- not known

Governor Gumpas- not known (most likely 60's or 70's)

Coriakin- Immortal (being a star)

Lord Bern- not known

Lord Octasian- not known

Lord Restimar- not known

Lord Rhoop- not known

Lord Mavramorn- not known

Lord Argoz- not known

Lord Revilian- not known

Star girl- most likely around Caspian's age

Pittencream- not known

 

The Silver Chair:

Eustace- 9

Jill- 9

Caspian- 66

Prince Rilian- 31

Star Girl- She most likely died when she was 56

Lady of the Green Kirtle- possibly immortal like the White Witch (though does get killed)

Puddleglum- not known

Glimfeather- not known

Trumpkin- most likely in his 60's or 70's (dwarfs are known to live longer than humans)

Mullugutherum- not known

Golg- not known

 

The Horse and His Boy:

Shasta/Prince Cor- 14

Prince Corin- 14

Aravis Tarkheena- 12 or 13

Bree- not known

Hwin- not known

Ahoshta Tarkaan- 60

Lasaraleen Tarkheena- most likely 20's

Peter- 27 (though doesn't make an appearance)

Susan- 26

Edmund- 24

Lucy- 22

Mr. Tumnus- not known

Prince Rabadash- most likely 30's

Anradin Tarkaan- most likely 30's or 40's

The Tisroc- most likely 50's or 60's

King Lune- most likely 40's or 50's

Sallowpad- Not known

Lord Peridan- not known

 

The Magician's Nephew:

Digory- 12

Polly- 11

Jadis- not known

Uncle Andrew- 66

Aunt Letty- most likely the oldest of the three siblings

Mabel Kirke- most likely the youngest of the three siblings

Frank I- most likely in his 40's

Helen- most likely in her 30's

 

The Last Battle:

King Tirian- between 21-25

Jewel- not known

Roonwit- not known

Shift- not known but is described as being old

Puzzle- not known

Digory- 61

Polly- 60

Peter- 22

Susan- 21 (though doesn't make an appearance)

Edmund- 19

Lucy- 17

Eustace- 16

Jill- 16

Poggin- not known

Griffle- not known

Rishda Tarkaan- most likely 30's or 40's

Emeth- most likely around Tirian's age

Ginger- not known

Farsight- not known

 

 

 

 

 

I always thought Caspian was younger than Edmund in PC?? I think of Edmund as being 12-13 and Caspian being 10-11. (Edmund and Peter both act way older, Caspian immediately looks up to them and does what they say, even when he wants to do something else.)

 

Then when they come back in VDT and Caspian is now older than Edmund the power dynamic shifts, which is partially what causes them to fight. This really bugged me in the Disney adaptation (and making him and Susan like each other). I love Ben Barnes, but it just changed way too many plot points to cast him.

 

This is why it would be hard to cast Caspian as the same since he goes from younger than them, to older than them.

 

Also, in LB only Jill and Eustace are still at school, which means Lucy has graduated. Since it's not the summer, she is likely at least 18. Do they ever say the age gap between Lucy and Eustace in VDT?

Posted by: @lasaraleen

I always thought Caspian was younger than Edmund in PC?? I think of Edmund as being 12-13 and Caspian being 10-11.

I always thought Edmund was younger than Caspian because I got the impression Edmund was several years younger than Peter in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

 

Posted by: @lasaraleen

(Edmund and Peter both act way older, Caspian immediately looks up to them and does what they say, even when he wants to do something else.)

Well, that's because they are both way older. Remember how old they got at the end of LWW?  

@lasaraleen I think Walden's excuse for aging up the Pevensies is so that Caspian and Susan can have a romantic relation. Though I am glad that they gave the girls more interaction with Caspian than they do in the book, I didn't think there had to be a romance involved.

I actually went by what the timeline said. Eustace and Jill are still in school in The Last Battle, and I think the school they were attending was run differently than it was in The Silver Chair. It might depend on how many years of boarding school lasts.

@lasaraleen did you read the timeline that Jasmine copied in full from our resources section?
It's the best we at Narniaweb know, from the Walter Hooper list and various references in the texts. I've used that list for over 20 years.

eg The age difference between Peter, Caspian and Edmund is seen in PC where Caspian meets the Pevensies for the first time, and he and Peter see 'a boy of about his own age' (from memory).

The confusion happens when we base our understanding on what the films and the TV serials did.

A note on the BBC ages:  before BBC started casting teenagers to play child roles (some very silly looking) they used capable child actors. The four who played the Pevensies were: Richard Dempsey (Peter) 14 when filming LWW, Sophie Cook (Susan) 13 when filming it, Jonathan Scott (Edmund) 14 when filming it,  Sophie Wilcox (Lucy) 12 when filming it.
These ages were fairly young, but I think they were using only those old enough to work professionally (Older accounts show that a child could not get a professional performing licence until they were 12). 

Under 12 there are still stricter limits on how many hours a child can work each day - eg for an 8 year old it's 3 hours, including getting into makeup, hair and costume. (This meant Georgie had at least one double all the time for LWW and PC, and stand-ins for setting up shots).

 

 

@col-klink Yes, they get older in LWW, but when they get back into England, it's like no time has passed. PC is only a year later for them, but more for Narnia.

Posted by: @lasaraleen

(Edmund and Peter both act way older, Caspian immediately looks up to them and does what they say, even when he wants to do something else.)

Note: Before we start, I have always seen Peter and Caspian as quite close age wise in PC, and Edmond being a couple years younger than both.

      Now, I think that the above event happened for two reasons. The first is that these is that Caspian is meeting two kings, who were both warriors, tacticians and logicians with years of experience. This put Caspian in stark contrast to Peter, who instantly took control of the situation and slipped perfectly back into the shoes of High King Peter the Magnificent, not Peter Pevensie. Edmond also slipped right back into the shoes of King Edmond the Just, Peter's fellow king and right hand, whereas Caspian was still struggling. A great example of this can be seen in this excerpt from the Prince Caspian, right after the death of the Hag, Wer-wolf and Nikabrik.

Prince Caspian, Chapter 12, Sorcery and Sudden Vengeance (Excerpt)

“Is King Caspian anywhere?” asked Peter.

“I’m here,” said a rather faint voice. “Something bit me.”

They all heard the noise of someone striking a match. It was Edmund. The little flame showed his face, looking pale and dirty. He blundered about for a little, found the candle (they were no longer using the lamp, for they had run out of oil), set it on the table, and lit it. When the flame rose clear, several people scrambled to their feet. Six faces blinked at one another in the candlelight.

“We don’t seem to have any enemies left,” said Peter. “There’s the Hag, dead.” (He turned his eyes quickly away from her.) “And Nikabrik, dead too. And I suppose this thing is a Wer-Wolf. It’s so long since I’ve seen one. Wolf’s head and man’s body. That means he was just turning from man into wolf at the moment he was killed. And you, I suppose, are King Caspian?”

“Yes,” said the other boy. “But I’ve no idea who you are.”

“It’s the High King, King Peter,” said Trumpkin.

“Your Majesty is very welcome,” said Caspian.

“And so is your Majesty,” said Peter. “I haven’t come to take your place, you know, but to put you into it.”

“Your Majesty,” said another voice at Peter’s elbow. He turned and found himself face to face with the Badger. Peter leaned forward, put his arms round the beast and kissed the furry head: it wasn’t a girlish thing for him to do, because he was the High King.

“Best of badgers;” he said. “You never doubted us all through.”

“No credit to me, your Majesty,” said Trufflehunter. “I’m a beast and we don’t change. I’m a badger, what’s more, and we hold on.”

“I am sorry for Nikabrik,” said Caspian, “though he hated me from the first moment he saw me. He had gone sour inside from long suffering and hating. If we had won quickly he might have become a good Dwarf in the days of peace. I don’t know which of us killed him. I’m glad of that.”

“You’re bleeding,” said Peter.

“Yes, I’m bitten,” said Caspian. “It was that—that wolf thing.” Cleaning and bandaging the wound took a long time, and when it was done Trumpkin said, “Now. Before everything else we want some breakfast.”

“But not here,” said Peter.

“No,” said Caspian with a shudder. “And we must send someone to take away the bodies.”

“Let the vermin be flung into a pit,” said Peter. “But the Dwarf we will give to his people to be buried in their own fashion.”

***************

      This isn't something that Peter and Edmond are strangers to, the combat, the beheading and the duty of kings, yet Caspian is very new to the game (but we see learns all this and more in VDT).

Note: To the Caspian fans out there, I am in no way denigrating him, he is one of the best characters in the whole of the stories, I'm just pointing out he isn't near as capable a king at this point as Peter and Edmond.

      The second reason for this is the fact that these kings were nothing short of legendary, and even though they were around Caspian's age, he had them built in his mind as epic from all the stories he had heard, and the fact that they were human, and his same age would do little to disprove those notions in five minutes. If some amazing young man/young lady of history showed up (I can't think of one right off the top of my head), the 'wow' factor would be off the charts, and the fact that they were my age would do little to quell that at first. I think much the same thing happened to Caspian, what do y'all think?

 

Child of the King: SonofStone

That makes total sense. Thank you!

It would make a lot of sense to have child actors to play the main characters.

Peter: 12-13; Susan: 11-12; Edmund:9-10; Lucy: 7-8; Digory: 12-13; Polly: 11-2; Eustace: 9-10; Jill: 9-10.

Then of course, for the end of LWW and HHB (that is, if they were to go in Chronological order, or for some reason, decides to pair LWW and HHB, like BBC did with PC and VDT), they would have to find some older actors to play the adult Pevensies.

A bit of trivia: the adult Lucy at the end of LWW in the Walden adaptation was portrayed by Georgie Henley's real life sister, Rachel Henley.

So I think that they would have to find some older actors to play the Pevensies at the end of LWW and even in HHB.

@the-mad-poet-himself I agree, the movie and especially her charecter always seemed a bit "off" to me every time I watched VODT. Maybe it was their use of a camera that followed them around, or something else but the whole movie felt entirely different from the previous two.

Since this topic is getting attention again, I thought I'd throw something out. Just because a movie adaptation casts actors that are older than the characters in the book, it doesn't necessarily mean the characters are supposed to be that age. It could just be the filmmakers wanted actors with more experience and maturity, and we're supposed to just imagine them as younger when we watch the movie.