I recently had a chance to interview William Mosely (Peter) and James McAvoy (Mr. Tumnus) from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Here's what they had to say about the movie and their experience filming it.

William Moseley plays Peter, the oldest brother
in the Pevenise family. 

WORD: Peter's character goes through many changes in the movie, but throughout he is the care-taker, the protector of the Pevensie siblings. Did his character resonate with you? Do you have siblings and if so, are you the oldest?
William Moseley (Peter): We were like a family. We aren't afraid to say, "Get lost, leave me alone.  I want my own time now"  William is a lot like Peter. I'm the oldest in my family.  I strive a lot of the time for what's right, justice as my Mom will probably tell you, and truth and honesty, is so important in my life and what happens around me because I just can't stand lies and deception, lies, dishonesty. I think it's so important, to tell the truth when you can.  Sometimes I will back down.  But as my confidence has grown, like as Peter's confidence grows throughout the film. 

WORD: What was your favorite scene in the movie? The most difficult?
Moseley: The frozen river set and scene was amazing.  It was really amazing.  But it was also the biggest challenge.  It took about a week to shoot and it was intense.
 I have to say horse riding I absolutely love.  I can say that without any hesitation.  The horse I ride is so beautiful and the sword fighting was a great experience as well.  To learn both and to be riding bareback on a horse at the end of it all was a thrill.

WORD: When did you first read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? Tell us about that experience.
Moseley: I first experienced the books on tape when I was seven years old and listening to them before I went to bed.
 
WORD: How would you describe the movie to those people who say they aren't fans of fantasy or science fiction? Why do you think they should watch the movie or read the book?
Moseley: First of all I hope they enjoy it.  I hope they can actually sit back, relax, and look at the film and say, "Yeah, that was a good film.  I enjoyed watching it.  "  But I also want people to look further than just saying I enjoyed that film.  I want them to understand, why this book was written.  Why the film's being made.  How it relates to normal life.  I want people to see it as uplifting.  I want it to help them in their lives.  You can lose yourself in the fantasy of it all but it also has such a great message for viewers.

James McAvoy plays Mister Tumnus, a fawn and Lucy Pevensie's first friend in Narnia.

WORD: What was it like to play Mister Tumnus?
James McAvoy: Mister Tumnus is first of all, a fawn.  And he's half man and he's half goat.  He's also the first character in Narnia that audiences will meet so he had to be lovable to her; not to everyone.  They have to get on, and he had to be scary as well, to the reader, or the watcher or the listener.  
   It was kind of about trying to figure out how you play a character who is nice and who's maybe nasty and you need to find that balance.  You find the real person who's got to do a bad thing, and why does he have to do it, and why can't he, why can't he stop himself doing it?  They led me to figure out that the most important thing about Tumnus and his journey, maybe not the most important thing about Tumnus, but the most important thing about his journey in this film is Lucy and his connection to her, because immediately, she questions his morality.  As soon as they meet, within the first two minutes of meeting each other, he's forced to look at who he is, and that's the power of an eight year old, wonderful being!

WORD: How did you prepare for the role?
McAvoy: The voice of Mister Tumnus came from the goat, in him, really.  He's half man and he's half goat.  But the man half of him loves to sit at home and, and drink his cups of tea made just right and have his sardines and read his book and smoke his pipe and all that good stuff.  The animal part of him is kind of in conflict with each other, 'cause he's also a fawn, and he loves to sing and he loves to dance, and he loves to sleep under the stars.  The voice kind of came a little bit from the goat, half of him.  The accent came from the man half of him.  And, and C.S. Lewis, undeniably writing him with an English voice, a very certain type of English voice.  Very kind of middle class, kind of sovereign English voice of the time. 

WORD: What was your favorite scene in the movie? The most difficult?
McAvoy: Just working with Georgie was an absolute delight but I can't say that I have one favorite scene.  Probably the most difficult aspect was the walk that I had to do in order to create the walk and look of Mr. Tumnus properly.  It was physically difficult in addition to the length of time in the makeup chair!

WORD: When did you first read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? Tell us about that experience.
McAvoy: I loved the books when I was a child and, and I read them when I was about twelve.  My favorite two characters were always Aslan and Mister Tumnus. I felt very, very connected to the book when I read it as if there's something coming to me as well as my imagination being used on it.  That's what any book should do. 

WORD: How many times did you read the book to prepare for your role? Why do you think it still retains the same magic for readers 50 years after its publication?
McAvoy: I suppose what's timeless about The Chronicles of Narnia, and in particular, for some reason, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, is he was writing it for someone in particular.  C.S. Lewis wrote it for his God-daughter, Lucy, who was eight years old, and he was writing it for her, specifically.  He was just writing it for one person, it seems.  And I think that you can get all the love, you feel the love coming from the book, that's meant for someone else.  You feel that that connection between the writer and yourself is very, very strong.  And maybe that's because he was writing for some one individual. 

WORD: How would you describe the move to those people who say they aren't fans of fantasy or science fiction? Why do you think they should watch the movie or read the book?
McAvoy: I think it's a life affirming movie.  We're not watching people that we identify with on an everyday level, But hopefully, what we take away from it is seen that good can prevail over evil.  Those on Aslan's side believe in Narnia.  For them, that IS their world, it may not be a country in this great old world, but for them, that's their world, believe in your world and come together.  
   What I love about Narnia is the fact that you've got all these different species.  The differentiation between them is greater than in our own world, where, the differentiation is race.  What color our skin is and what our customs are.  There it's species.  They all come together.  I think that's a very positive thing. That these people with such differences, can come together and show such faith in these most unlikely of heroes.  
   So hopefully, people are going to come away with a big smile on their face and going to be very charged and happy.  People are going to come away reading the book and seeing the movie, wanting to see what happens next, and not being able to wait for the next movie!