Hmm, I hadn't thought about Dakota Blue Richards! I think she'd be really good. She's a reasonably good actress, too; she just hasn't been in the best films. I liked her in The Secret of Moonacre though. (Oddly enough, I applied for the part of Maria Merryweather, but that was years ago when the film had just been greenlit.)

Saoirse Ronan is a very good actress as well. I think that she looks a little too old, though. I thought she was older than Will Poulter!

I'm not sure I'd want an unknown, especially as they will have to play against Will. Not that an unknown wouldn't be able to act, but it might be good to have someone a little more experienced.

Saoirse Ronan would be perfect! she's so graceful and has a great smile! I hope they pick her!

I think I'm with Berra. Having a new face would be better. But that may just be me.

I wouldn't mind having a new face either but a person with a face like Dakota or Saoirse would be a perfect look for Jill.

Dakota Blue Richards has a fine look for Jill, and she may even be a good actress, but she starred in a film based on a book that was meant to counteract the Chronicles of Narnia. The film being The Golden Compass.

The author of the book the movie was based off, Phillip Pullman, said some very rude/mean things about the Chronicles of Narnia. As I said before, the reason that he wrote his books was so that they would be the antithesis of the Narnia books because he disliked them so much and thought them so bad for children/anyone.

It would just be sending out some mixed messages to the audiences. I'd rather have someone new.

I don't think that matters if she was cast in a movie like that, sweetlilgurlie.

She is an actress and i'm sure she looked at it as a job. She probably heard from her agent "Hey there's this fantasy movie I looked up want to give it a go?"

Dakota seems to like fantasy because she is in another called "Secret Of Moonacre"

So really it is unnecessary to make that kind of judgment about an actress we don't know about. She isn't the author Philip Pullman

I agree sweeetlilgurlie. I haven't seen the Golden Compass before, but I heard about the conflict between it and the Chronicles of Narnia. I love Narnia!
If Jill is really well known, that could be a good thing. If her fans hear that she's going to be in another movie, they will probably buy tickets first thing, because they want to see the girl who plays Jill. Then the Narnia movies will become more popular.
On the other hand, if they (they being the casting directors) choose a new actress, then the old Narnia fans will come back and see a brand new movie. They won't just see it because a famous actress is in it. They will see the movie because they love the story.
I think it could go either way from here. I mean, I don't mind if we have a good, experienced actress, but wouldn't it cost the producers and film makers a lot of money? How would they be able to afford someone who is expecting a huge amount? I think if we have a new actress come, then she won't be expecting a lot of pay, and this would be just the expericence she needs to make it big somewhere else. Then the money saved could be spent on better effects and talking animals.
Then that new actress who had never been in a movie before could come back and say, "I was in this movie. I played the character Jill Pole. That was my first movie I ever made. You should watch it, I was so young." Wouldn't that be better than, "Oh yeah. I can't believe I decided to play that weird character in that one movie a long time ago. What was I thinking?"
I think we should just give a new actress a chance. This could be her big start.
Wow. That was a lot of writing. Anyone falling asleep yet?

lol! I was just sorta blinking a bit JillPoleWannabe123, but that's only because of lack of sleep.

I too agree that the actress who plays Jill should be unknown or has been in some stuff just hides everywhere.

I just find actress Saoirse too known. She would make a good Jill but her resume says a lot and she's in a lot of magazines. She's way too well known. I want to be surprised to see who gets Jill and I want to not know her at all.

I have to disagree on pay amounts, because on professional movie sets it's based on how many hours you work and it could be 10-100$ an hour a day depending on the budget and how big your character is. Whoever is playing Jill I can see her getting paid around $8,000-$20,000 dollars or so.

Yeah, i want a relatively unknown actress for Jill too, it keeps things interesting with new and fresh faces

My point is not to judge Dakota Blue Richards. It's merely to point out that being in movies that have clashing messages is not a good idea for either film company or author. It is also sending out a skewed image of what sort of work represents the actress, as the movies have completely opposite messages.

I'm for an unknown.

Hmm... We've established that Jill should be a relatively unknown actress I believe... And that her hair should be brown/dirty blonde... And her eyes should be hazel/blue/green... What about how tall and how old?

I think she should be 150-160cm tall and about 14-16 and if she has childish face she can be 17 or older. I think her eyes should be green or blue.

She should be Will Poulter's height and no one 16 and under should play her. Mainly because Will, will be 18 or 19 during actual filming.

I'm up for someone younger than 16. I mean, as long as the actress looks older than her age. I don't think age really matters as much, as long as there is absolutely NO romance between Jill and Eustace. I mean, she could be as young as 14. Age still does matter, because I expect they are in the same grade and everything, but not as much as if they were, "in love," or anything like that. I don't really care how old the actress is, as long as she can play the part. I think 14 would be the youngest I am comfortable with though.

Yeah but the crew probably wants someone a bit older then 16 to go along with Will's age and he will be finishing up school so i'm sure they dont want someone who still might be in school too because the movie I imagine will film over a 7-9 month period of time.