Greta Gerwig Explains Why Meryl Streep Was Ideal for the Role of Aslan

Meryl Streep’s casting as Aslan in the film adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew has sparked discussion among fans of the original work.

Empire magazine recently published the first image of Aslan from Greta Gerwig’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew. In this new version, the mythical lion features heterochromia with blue and orange eyes, and his voice is provided by three-time Academy Award winner Meryl Streep.

Gerwig shared with the publication what qualities she was looking for in the actor to voice Aslan:

“I needed someone deep, but not pretentious, possessing weight without gloomy seriousness. Someone capable of conveying sorrow and depth alongside joy and wonder. I was looking for an actor over 70, with the wisdom accumulated over a long life, but who retained the ability to wonder like a child. And it had to be one of the greatest actors in history. The list of candidates turned out to be very short.”

Greta Gerwig

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will be the first screen adaptation of C.S. Lewis’s novel of the same name. The film will tell the story of the creation of Narnia and the journey of Digory Kirke and Polly Plummer to other worlds.

The main roles are played by David McKenna and Beatrice Campbell. The cast also includes Meryl Streep, Daniel Craig, Emma Mackey, Carey Mulligan, Ciarán Hinds, Denise Gough, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, and Susan Wokoma.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew will be released in theaters on February 12, 2027, and will arrive on Netflix on April 2. It will be the service’s first film to receive a full theatrical release worldwide.

Related articles