We Love Lucy (a.k.a. Georgie Henley)
I’ve always loved the character of Lucy Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia—how she’s brave and curious and tender-hearted and sees things that others don’t. When I was ten or eleven and my church youth group played around with the idea of putting on a play of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, I knew I was destined to play Lucy. But we never actually did. And I never got through the back of my closet, even though I kept an emergency bag (filled with string, a flashlight, and crackers) there just in case.
So I knew I would be particularly anxious about who played Lucy in the recent movie adaptation. I need not have worried. The film as a whole has some faults (though it’s way better than my worst fears, and overall pretty good), young Georgie Henley captured my heart from the beginning.
I should clarify that I usually don’t like children much. I read lots of children’s books, but I’m not fond of the stickiness and noisiness of real kids. But Porpoise and I decided that a small, clean, intelligent—and let’s not forget cute—ten-year-old wouldn’t be that bad. We could read to it. Porpoise has suggested that I inquire about whether Georgie Henley is available for rental.
She’s even more endearing now that we’ve listened to the director’s and four-kids’ commentary on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe DVD. She’s actually a little imp. She gets things off to a good start when she says, “You look like a monkey! Your ears stick out!” to her costar Skandar Keynes (Edmund) the first time he appears on screen. Apparently she also introduced the “potty-mouth bucket” to the set during filming, and insisted that any cast and crew who swore in her presence had to pay money to the bucket. Creative child.
Listening to the commentary, you do get the impression that she’s a bit of a chatterbox, but she’s so excited about everything that you don’t really mind. She’s very tickled by the memory of the day she ate a pencil on set. Why? It’s kind of hard to hear her explanation amidst all the giggles, but it seems to have had something to do with being in the Beavers’ house.
One of my favorite Georgie Henley stories is about how, when director Andrew Adamson gave an iPod as a thank-you gift to each of the four children, Georgie thanked him profusely. She then turned to her mother and whispered, “What is it?” Yes! Not only is she adorable, but she has Luddite potential!
Hey, Georgie, if you ever read this, you can come live with us. We have an extra room in our basement. We’ll feed you pencils. And we’ll read to you.
1 comment May 6th, 2006