I was going to say something about Charli XCX and her lineage. She is in fact Indian-white. But I don’t think this character is the WW son. 

Posted by: @rose

We've been puzzled by the fact that Netflix has sent out such a specific casting call for a third child when a much more general casting call for only two child actors was sent out in January. But if casting this third child needed to take into account the appearance of the actress playing Jadis, then it would make sense that they would have to wait until casting Jadis had been finalized.

You know what, that's the single most plausible theory I've heard about this new casting call so far! 😷

It resolves so many of the inconsistencies in the data points we have available, and connects up far more of the dots than any other theory presented. 

Nothing else about the casting call makes sense otherwise:

• why is Boy 1 described in such different terms to the others?
• why wasn't he included on the original casting call?
• how come none of the actors we've seen apply for (or audition for) the role of "Isadore" have been British-Indian?

This theory connects way more dots, in a much more plausible manner.

I might still have some questions from a movie perspective, but in terms of the pure logic of the casting process, it absolutely tracks better than the alternative theories.

It also feels much more "Greta Gerwigy" to me.

You know, driving home today I was genuinely perplexed as to why Greta Gerwig of all people would think she was the best person to tell the story of young mixed race Indian child living in Victorian London. Like, Steve McQueen's "Blitz" movie from last year makes sense in that regard precisely because its directed by Steve McQueen.

However, giving Jadis a son, and attempting to humanise the primary villain of the story through the lens of motherhood, feels very on-brand for Greta Gerwig... especially as a new mother herself.

And oddly enough, the idea of Jadis as a mother, and the theme of "Motherhood" as a whole, would suddenly make the Aslan casting make much more sense, at least from a unified thematic perspective... the creation of Narnia, mother nature, Digory's own dying mother, etc. etc.... Everything about this feels so much more logical from a filmmaking perspective than the random arbitrariness of a British-Asian Digory.

It also kinda starts to make some sense why she would use her own newborn son's name for the audition roles if "motherhood" were her key theme to her project.

While it's an interesting theory that Boy One might be related to Jadis, possibly even her son, the casting still raises more questions than it answers. The initial casting call in January focused on two child actors, presumably Digory and Polly, so why would this new character (if he is Jadis' son) be described as the lead? While I wouldn’t be surprised to see some changes in adaptation, introducing a completely new character who then leads the film seems like an even bigger departure than race-bending Digory? Even for Gerwig, in the context of those expecting her to take bold liberties, that feels like a stretch?

I also remain hesitant to fully commit to this theory in part because, as I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I’m still hoping the casting of Charli XCX doesn’t come to fruition. It’s difficult to envision her embodying a role that, in my view, demands a far greater degree of gravitas, and certainly an actor who is more seasoned, or at the very least, slightly more experienced.

So the theory is that instead of making Digory of Indian descent, which is arguably one of the few major human characters where that change could actually make sense based on the book, Gerwig has instead chosen to give Jadis a son/nephew and make them the lead role over Digory? 

I’m unconvinced.

Wouldn't the same logic still apply (if we’re going off the theory that they were waiting to confirm Charli XCX before casting the lead) that Boy 1 is Digory?

Maybe they wanted to cast an actor whose look complemented Jadis because Digory views Jadis in a more maternal or personal way. That would still support a thematic focus on motherhood without inventing a whole new character.

In a straight shootout though, if you asked me even a few months ago whether it was more or less likely that Greta Gerwig would...

A - give Jadis a son

B - make Digory a boy of mixed British-Indian descent

... Then. I think Theory A just wins all day long for me. It feels so much more like the sort of thing Greta Gerwig would do... Even more so in light of a female Aslan.

I'm not necessarily advocating for it as a story change, I'm just saying it makes so much more sense to me given the nature of the filmmaker.

Posted by: @rilianix

The initial casting call in January focused on two child actors, presumably Digory and Polly, so why would this new character (if he is Jadis' son) be described as the lead?

Posted by: @impending-doom

So the theory is that instead of making Digory of Indian descent, which is arguably one of the few major human characters where that change could actually make sense based on the book, Gerwig has instead chosen to give Jadis a son/nephew and make them the lead role over Digory?

For what it's worth, all three characters are described as leads in the original casting call, and Boy 1 is not described as the lead, just lead character.

The fact that he's listed as Boy 1 may not infer his significance in the film per se, but rather the casting director's priorities at this stage since this the first time (as far as we know) a casting call has specified a boy with that particular heritage. They've already been looking at auditions for the original boy and girl for months and finding new applicants for those roles is probably not as urgent as Boy 1 since filming begins soon.

One thing I've just considered (which might subconsciously be to do with my doubts over Charli XCX as a possible Jadis) is that, what if it is Digory that's going to be race-bent and Charli is being considered to play his mother? The possible casting of Charli and Daniel Craig as siblings make me doubt this, but just a thought either way.

The idea that Boy 1 is the son of Jadis is an interesting one, and it does connect some theoretical dots, but I'm not convinced by it. There are too many anomalies.

The thing that gets me is the exact description in the casting call:

Boy One: 9-12 year old, British boy of Indian descent (Indian father, white mother) described as the “lead character”

The lead character. If this really IS an adaptation of The Magician's Nephew — and it's worth remembering that there have been several good hints in that direction, but it has never actually been officially confirmed! — then Boy 1 really can only be Digory. Unless of course this new Narnia film turns out to be even further off the track of any of the original books than we were suspecting...  

I say that because even if Charli XCX has been cast as Jadis, and they've decided to give Jadis a son and need to make him ethnically the same as her, there's no way that this son of Jadis is going to be the "lead character". Again, unless the plot has been changed beyond all recognition.

And meanwhile, as I just said earlier in another thread, although there is the argument that Boy Two is most likely Digory because he and the Girl are each described equally as an "important character", that doesn't seem to fit either — because as far as the original story goes, I can only conclude that Digory is definitely the lead character, and Polly, while also very important, is secondary. (Here's the post where I wrote about that, to avoid repeating myself and dragging this off topic.)

The other aspect of the casting call that stands out to me is how exact they are about describing Boy 1's parentage. Not just "of Indian descent", but specifically "Indian father, white mother".

That actually rules out the idea that Boy 1 is Jadis's son, if Jadis herself is played by Charli XCX, because then Boy 1 does not have a "white mother". It also rules out the idea that Charli XCX might be playing Digory's mother, if Digory is Boy 1, for the same reason.

And in any case, too, if they are simply trying to match Boy 1's looks with someone they've already cast, there's not necessarily a need to be so exact about his parentage. Plenty of people of different mixed ancestries have light brownish skin, and you wouldn't know from that exactly what their heritage was unless you asked. (And for the record, my dad got mistaken at least once for an Indian man in his younger years, and he's 100% British / northern European by ancestry — he just had almost black hair and olive skin that tanned quite dark!!) Even if they are looking for an absolute exact ethnic match with Charli XCX, who has an Indian mother and a British father, all they need to ask for is a boy "of Indian descent, one parent Indian and one white British".

Whereas the specificity of Boy 1 having an "Indian father" immediately makes me think of the one connection with India in The Magician's Nephew — that we're told that's where Digory's father is. The simplest and most obvious conclusion to draw is that they've decided to make it that Digory's father is actually Indian. As I've also already said, that's definitely not canonical, but it's not impossible historically, and I can imagine it adding an extra layer of interest to Digory's story, if that's the line they're taking.

Really, though, there is now only one thing that's certain about this upcoming film, and that is that it's certainly baffling!!  

You make a good point @courtenay! I mean I think there still could be a chance of Charli being considered for Digory's mother, but I suppose it would depend on if they've acknowledged Charli's mixed heritage, and whether this casting call predates her consideration because while we have access to this casting call now, can we really know when this was put together before we've gained access to it?

Besides Jadis and Digory's mother, is there a possibility of Charli being considered for Helen or even Sarah? Again, this is probably me not coming to terms with Charli as a possible Jadis, but still a conversation worth having. While I don't doubt that actors like Charli, Daniel and Meryl are being considered, I still like to keep an open-mind when it comes to who they could be playing. Could Daniel be Aslan? Could Meryl be Mrs Lefay?

I'm just also super vibing with the idea that Charn night be a world that has a general East Asian / Indian-esque cultural design.

It doesn't even have to be Jadis Son at that point....it could be any general inhabitant of Charm, a lost orphan boy or something, feels plausible.

Posted by: @icarus

I'm just also super vibing with the idea that Charn night be a world that has a general East Asian / Indian-esque cultural design.

Hmmm... Charn, the world whose rulers became progressively more and more corrupted by evil down the generations until they culminated in a Queen who was so self-centred and megalomanical that she would rather destroy her entire world than lose her rulership. If that world gets cast as looking East Asian, or any other recognisable cultural vibe, and with brownish-skinned people to boot, I can just hear the accusations of racism rolling right in!!  

@courtenay for what it's worth, I actually think the Walden Prince Caspian film provides a great example of how to pull off "ethnically colour-coded villains" without it coming across as weird or racist, so it's definitely not impossible, but maybe that's a different topic altogether.

@icarus Possibly, although I've never been able to bring myself to watch that film, so I can't comment on it!

That IS something that's against canon, mind you, although I bet nobody even noticed when the film was made. Although the Telmarines have some South Sea Islander ancestry, that's hundreds of generations back from the events of Prince Caspian (according to Lewis's timeline, Caspian X was born 1,830 years after the pirates from our world took possession of Telmar), and — unlike the Calormenes — there's no reference anywhere to them having a particular ethnic appearance by the time we meet them in the series.

And the part that is specifically against canon in the film is that, in the books (this is confirmed in the first chapter of VDT), Caspian is golden-haired!!!

(Almost every previous adaptation of Narnia has done exactly the same thing with canonically golden-haired Lucy as well. As a natural blonde myself, I object to this blatant and unjustifiable, er, brunette-washing. )

Posted by: @courtenay

The thing that gets me is the exact description in the casting call:

Just to clarify, this is our summary of the casting call — we decided not to provide direct quotes to avoid any legal complications. That said, Boy 1 was described as a “lead character” twice, while Boy 2 and Girl were each referred to that once, as well as an “important character”. I'll update the wording to try and be more clear. 

Personally, I interpret “lead” as carrying more narrative weight than “important,” though admittedly we may be getting a bit into the weeds here. Putting aside discussion as to the significance of lead vs important for a second....

If all we knew was that a third role had been added, and that the character is of Indian descent, the last thing I’d assume is that they were introducing a relative for Jadis.

The strongest link I could imagine between this new boy and Jadis would be if he were introduced in Charn as someone who Digory and Polly awakened. Even then, there are obvious plot inconsistencies, but it's still a more plausible stretch than giving Jadis a literal son or blood relative. She killed her own sister remember... not really a character you'd want to use as a commentary on motherhood or maternal affection.

And if we're throwing out other possibilities using the same casting logic (which I think is a good call @rose), this role could easily be the son of Frank the cab driver and his wife Helen. If Frank has already been cast behind the scenes as an Indian actor, that would explain why they’re now looking for a mixed-race boy to match. That could also be Gerwig’s way of planting the seeds for Narnia’s later human diversity in the later books.

Not advocating for this, just pointing out other options.