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The Chronicles Of Narnia delighted British audiences when it was released back in December 2005, transporting them into CS Lewis’s magical world.
Based on the children’s classic The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, the 2005 film was filmed in New Zealand and had an impressive reception, with an IMDb rating of 6.9 out of ten.
It also provided a platform for a new generation of British child stars, but as the film celebrates its 20th anniversary, where are they now?
From quitting the acting world altogether to reaching new heights in Hollywood, this is what happened to the Pevensie children – and, of course, some of the more established names who appeared in the series.
The film was the first of three based on the novel series of the same name – The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe (2005), Prince Caspian (2008) and The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (2010).
1. Georgie Henley as Lucy Pevensie
One of the film’s most significant breakout stars was Georgie Henley, now 30, who played Lucy and was famously the first of the children to step through the wardrobe into the snowy world of Narnia.
Since the Narnia series came to an end in 2010, she has taken on a number of modest acting roles, including in the 2014 thriller Perfect Sisters.
After studying English at Cambridge University, she has also established herself as a writer, releasing a poetry pamphlet and writing and directing a film of her own called TIDE in 2015.
Her most recent role was in the 2023 docudrama Partygate about the notorious Downing Street parties that took place during the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, her life and career have not been without its challenges and shortly after beginning university she contracted a rare flesh-eating bacteria, necrotising fasciitis.
She explained that she had to have invasive surgery to avoid having her hand and arm amputated and initially feared that the scars it left her with would cause her to lose out on acting work.
But over time, she grew to accept her scars and in 2022 said she believes that they are an important sign of her survival that will only make her a better actress.
2. Anna Popplewell as Susan Pevensie
Just like her on-screen sister Lucy, Anna Popplewell, 36, who played Susan, went on to study English at university – namely Oxford’s Magdalene College.
Prior to acting in Narnia, however, she had already established herself as a child actress and appeared in the 2000 flick The Little Vampire.
She has had a number of smaller film and TV roles since 2005 and branched out her acting career to lend her voice to the Elder Scrolls video game series and made her stage debut in 2023 in the play Hedda Gabler.
The same year, she found further commercial success in the horror film, The Nun II, which was the eighth instalment in The Conjuring Franchise and seen as her return to mainstream acting.
3. Skandar Keynes as Edmund Pevensie
Despite making a name for himself as a young actor in the Narnia films, Skandar Keynes, 31, who played Edmund Pevensie, decided to pursue a career in politics instead.
He studied Middle Eastern history at Cambridge and in 2014, Business Insider listed Keynes in their round-up of the ’16 Incredibly Impressive Students at Cambridge University.’
He went on to intern with the UN Refugee Agency in Jordan and serve as a political advisor to minister Crispin Blunt, taking part in diplomatic visits and attending forums on global conflict.
He also is passionate about conservation, studying wolves as a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
After the films, he had just one further acting credit to his name as a voice actor in In Freedom’s Cause (2015), which won two accolades at the Voice Art Awards.
4. William Moseley as Peter Pevensie
William Moseley, 38, who portrayed Peter, has also gone from strength to strength as an actor and most recently appeared in the 2025 TV show The Royals as Prince Henry.
His other post-Narnia fantasy acting credits include The Little Mermaid (2018) and Artemis Fowl in (2020).
He has also appeared in horror movies Friend Request (2016) and Home Sweet Home: Rebirth this year.
As for his love life, Moseley dated actress Kelsey Asbille from 2012 to 2018, his co-star in the film Run, bus hasn’t had a high-profile relationship since.
While filming 2014’s The Silent Mountain, the was badly injured when struck by lightning in a freak accident on set. He still has a scar on his bicep to this day.
5. Tilda Swinton as the White Witch
But while its child stars were relatively new to acting at the time, the series did feature some more well-known acting talent including Tilda Swinton, 65, who stepped into the frosty shoes of the White Witch.
She was one of the biggest star in the film at the time, known for her Golden Globe-nominated performance in The Deep End (2001) and her gender-bending lead role in Orlando (1992).
She has since garnered more mainstream recognition, appearing alongside Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011).
She even broke into the Marvel universe as the Ancient One in Doctor Strange (2016) and Avengers Endgame (2019).
6. Liam Neeson as Aslan
Another well-known face – or rather voice – who featured in Narnia was Liam Neeson, 73, who portrayed the almighty Aslan.
He was already an established actor at the time, having starred in the 1993 smash hit Schindler’s List, which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.
But he has also arguably reached new heights in his career post-Narnia and notably portrayed the action hero star Bryan Mills in the Taken series (2008-2015).
Liam starred in The Naked Gun reboot earlier this year and made headlines for his love affair with co-star Pamela Anderson, 58.
The pair were romantically linked back in April but have decided to go their separate ways to focus on upcoming film projects, Pamela confirmed.
7. James McAvoy as Mr Tumnus
The iconic role of Mr Tumnus was also taken on by a familiar face in the form of James McAvoy, 46, who was already a known talent in the TV world thanks to his role in Shameless.
However, his career reached new heights thanks to his role in The Chronicles of Narnia and he went on to earn himself BAFTA nominations for his roles in The Last King Of Scotland (2006) and Atonement (2007).
Outside of his on-screen work, James has also had a successful run on the stage post-Narnia and appeared in several West End productions, including Three Days Of Rain (2010), Macbeth (2013) and The Ruling Class (2015).
James broke into the Marvel universe playing Professor Xavier in the X-Men franchise.
He took on his darkest role yet and debuted a far more muscular figure in 2024’s Speak No Evil.
James married Lisa Liberati in 2022, after meeting her on the set of 2016 film Split. The couple welcomed a son in 2022.
He was previously married to Anne-Marie Duff, who he met on the set of Shameless, and the pair welcomed a son in 2010.
8. Jim Broadbent as Professor Kirke
Another established actor who lent his talents to The Chronicles Of Narnia was Jim Broadbent, 76, who played Professor Kirke.
He is a familiar face to fans of British film, having portrayed Bridget Jones’s father in the iconic comedy films as well as appearing in Hot Fuzz (2007), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull (2008) and more.
More recently, he starred in the 2023 film The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, which is centred around an otherwise run-of-the-mill pensioner who goes on a 500-mile walk after hearing that his old work colleague is dying in the hope that it will encourage her to fight her illness.
He also reprised his role as Bridget Jones’s father Colin in Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy (2025) and his role as antique store owner Mr Grubber in Paddington in Peru (2024).
The cast of the hit 2005 film were recently thrust back into the public’s imagination after they reunited for its 20th anniversary.
Sharing a snap of the foursome as children in the film, Georgie showed their very grown-up recreation on Instagram – and they are totally unrecognisable.
They were joined by the film’s director, Andrew Adamson, who looked delighted to have been reunited with the former child actors.
Georgie captioned the picture: ’20 years!!!!!! We had to recreate this photo in August when Andrew was in London.’
Paying tribute to the film’s director, she added: ‘I don’t really have the words except thank you Andrew for creating real life magic and letting us be a part of it, and thank you everyone who loves the film as much as we loved making it. How beyond lucky we are!’
Instagram users were delighted to see the cast back together and were quick to praise the film that catapulted them into the spotlight as children.
They praised: ‘Imagine you go to dinner and just see the whole Narnia cast.’
‘You guys were my entire childhood. I plan on having my kids watch the movies too!’
‘How was that already 20 years ago?? I remember seeing it in theaters as a kid and being absolutely blown away. The music is also amazing!! Thank y’all so, so much for all the magic you brought us – still one of my favorite movies as an adult!! [sic]’
Georgie recently opened up about her role in the film and said that she and her on-screen siblings had an immediate chemistry at their audition that helped them secure their respective roles.
She told Buzzfeed: ‘It was a screen test with costumes and a few scenes, but the real audition was happening in the green room. They told us later that someone from production was with us the whole time, just watching how we interacted.
‘The four of us wandered off and started playing this little game together. It was our version of poker using colored pens as the chips – we were already acting like brothers and sisters.
‘It was the same on set. I’d never had brothers before, and suddenly I had two. Anna also felt like an older sister straight away. When my sisters would visit, we’d do sleepovers with Anna.
‘Our families became friends too – we went on all the press tours together, and had these huge dinners with everyone’s siblings. It really did feel like a big family. You can’t predict that. You can’t guarantee that a group of kids will get along but we, really, genuinely did.’
