I am perpetually haunting Google for Narnia/Netflix news, and earlier this month I saw an article about how Netflix is reportedly looking to sign Henry Cavill for more franchises. This made me think: what about Aslan? Yes, he's already in The Witcher, but from what I can tell from a couple of clips, his voice is quite modulated in post-production and it's very low and raspy to begin with because he's imitating the voice of an established video game character. I'm not sure if he's ever been in a major film where he used his normal voice and English accent; he seems to mostly be known for Superman and Witcher at this point.

I would go with Ben Kingsley as Aslan. He is so hard to get right.. kind of like in religious movies, Jesus is perhaps the hardest Biblical person to get right.

They should have cast Tom Baker as Aslan at one point. He's got such a dynamic range and can carry a variety of emotions. He's probably too old now, but that one would have been cool. 

Posted by: @starkat

They should have cast Tom Baker as Aslan at one point. He's got such a dynamic range and can carry a variety of emotions. He's probably too old now, but that one would have been cool. 

Interesting. I think Tom Baker was Puddleglum in the BBC adaption of The Silver Chair. It would be interesting if he was cast as Aslan. Another I thought of was Stash Kirkebride. He has that warmth and intimidating voice, the way he portrayed Rishda in the Focus on the Family Radio Theatre adaption of The Last Battle. Another thought of was Sam Neill, a New Zealand actor best known for his role as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurassic Park. He has that warmth and intimidation in his voice.

I think Aslan can have warmth and intimidation in his voice (not safe, but good).

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

Interesting. I think Tom Baker was Puddleglum in the BBC adaption of The Silver Chair. It would be interesting if he was cast as Aslan. 

 

Correct. He was also the 4th Doctor in Doctor Who.

Surprised that nobody has mentioned Ben Daniels here as a suggestion to voice for Aslan. If you may not know Ben, he is a British actor, primarily known for his West End and Broadway work, and as well as on screen - The Crown (he plays Lord Snowdon, Princess Margaret’s husband), House of Cards US, Rogue One, The Exorcist series, etc. Ben has a good relationship with Netflix with his previous works.

His voiceover CV, from his UK agency.

Posted by: @willmo-for_the_win

Surprised that nobody has mentioned Ben Daniels here as a suggestion to voice for Aslan. If you may not know Ben, he is a British actor, primarily known for his West End and Broadway work, and as well as on screen - The Crown (he plays Lord Snowdon, Princess Margaret’s husband), House of Cards US, Rogue One, The Exorcist series, etc. Ben has a good relationship with Netflix with his previous works.

His voiceover CV, from his UK agency.

I don't think I would have thought of Ben Daniels as Aslan.

Slightly off topic, but I wanted to share this with you. The man in the video, voicing Aslan for Narnia stage productions, founded a Christian arts academy and set up the Logos Theatre in South Carolina.

Several years ago they staged The Lion The Witch And The Wardrobe, using a huge puppet lion, and the voice of their founder Dr Nicky Chavers.  Since then they have produced Prince Caspian twice, and are about to stage The Horse And His Boy for the second time. Dr Chavers provided Aslan's voice again. What do you think of it?

Because of ill health, Dr Chavers pre-recorded all the lines of Aslan required for all the stories as the theatre hopes to stage them all in time. He passed away in 2021.  

In this video you will see a photo of Douglas Gresham with Dr Chavers and the leaders of the Academy and theatre, a few years ago. Doug has visited the Logos Theatre several times, and they really have his blessing for their Narnia productions.  (Incidentally, the boy in the photo is currently rehearsing to play Shasta this July)

Personally, I don’t think Liam Neeson was a great casting choice for Aslan. It’s not that he doesn’t have a great voice, but he made Aslan sound too…tame. And we know he isn’t a tame lion.

Aslan’s voice is first described as being “the deepest, wildest voice they had ever heard” in TMN. I feel the audio play from the 80s(?) definitely tried to give him that kind  voice, but it still wasn’t perfect casting. When I think of a voice like that, I think of something like Smaug the dragon.

On the other hand, Lewis almost immediately afterwards describes it as “the strong, happy voice of Aslan”. Having a voice so wild and deep be able to properly convey happiness and joy is definitely a tricky thing.

I guess I should backtrack to the “first” book, though. There, Lewis mainly says, “His voice was deep and rich and somehow took the fidgets out of them.” That’s not demanding quite as much of a voice-over as the description in TMN. I feel this one pretty accurately describes Mufasa’s voice in The Lion King. James Earl Jones was a fantastic casting choice for Mufasa, but Aslan is separate character, and I feel should have a distinctly different voice. But it has to be one that really manages to convey his character by sounding powerful, fierce and wild, and yet at the same time dignified, wise, mysterious and patient. And to be able to express happiness, sadness, and anger when need be.

I guess it’s hard to find a VA who can really pull all that off. Still, that doesn’t mean it can’t be done.

It’s going to be really hard to find a voice that can all

It is a going to be a challenge to get the character of Aslan right, regardless of who gets cast.

I think Liam Neeson did a good job, though he was more like a Gandalf or Obi-Wan. Plus, in the Walden, he was portrayed more like an afterthought.

Then there's David Suchet from Focus on the Family Radio theatre. He has a powerful voice, though it almost gets to where it is too powerful.

I don't think even the BBC captured Aslan well. When he talks, his mouth opens kind of slowly. He was tame as well, and didn't capture the wildness and unpredictable nature.

So regardless of who gets cast as the voice of Aslan, it's going to be a challenge to the character right.

Posted by: @jasmine_tarkheena

I don't think even the BBC captured Aslan well. When he talks, his mouth opens kind of slowly. He was tame as well, and didn't capture the wildness and unpredictable nature.

To be fair on the Beeb, they were working with late 1980s puppetry and animatronics on a famously low budget — there was really no way they could have got their Aslan to move about with any agility, let alone to lip-sync. It looked badly done even at the time — I was watching it as a 7 or 8-year-old when it was first shown on TV and we were cracking up laughing even then at the fact that Aslan opened his mouth about twice per sentence! (They did manage to speed up his jaws slightly by the time they did The Silver Chair, I recall.) 

Anyway, those technical limitations aren't a problem any more for a modern film or TV production. The difficulty is voice casting. Ronald Pickup (BBC) did an OK job at the times when Aslan speaks more gently, but not where he needs to sound more stern, let alone wild. I didn't find Liam Neeson at all convincing in that department either.

David Suchet hams it up a bit too much at times in the FOTF radio plays — I haven't listened to them for a while, but I can just remember him heavily overdoing it in LWW: "THAT, O Man, is CAIR PARAVEL of the four thrones, in one of which YOU must sit as KING!"  But then even in that same radio play, when he did the much more emotional scene of Aslan speaking to the two girls when he's heading to his death at the Stone Table, I remember he came across much more convincingly and movingly. I will have to listen to them all again some time!

As others have said, it is really hard for any actor to convey the sheer range of Aslan's "moods" (for want of a better word — I'm merely quoting Lewis in PC when he remarks of Aslan that Lucy "understood some of his moods"!) and I don't think anyone has done it perfectly so far, if indeed that's possible. I know it's come up before that perhaps they could do some digital modifying of the actor's voice as well — not too much, but just enough to make it sound not only more resonant, but perhaps a little less, well, human. But none of that will help much if the person doing the voice doesn't capture that huge emotional range in the first place. I don't have any specific actor in mind who perhaps could — I just hope that a future production will find someone who really can do Aslan justice!

I wonder if Doug Gresham has ever been asked to consider voicing Aslan himself, with his rich voice.

He has a background in radio work and acting, on top of many other skills and work. 

He does occasionally sound a bit Australian, but that can be managed with several takes. 

Posted by: @coracle

He does occasionally sound a bit Australian, but that can be managed with several takes.

Oi mate, just what's wrong with sounding a bit Australian???  

Seriously though, that would certainly be someone good to consider (and who definitely could be trusted to get Aslan "right"!) — and I'm sure, as a professional voice actor, he must know how to do a few different accents, or at least how to modify his own to suit the occasion...

It would actually make me feel a lot better if Douglas Gresham had any kind of involvement with Narnia films or series. I've actually never thought of him as the voice of Aslan, though.

Timothy Dalton is still my choice for Aslan. His voice is perfect.