Narnia

Award-winning stage performer Samantha Spiro has officially joined the cast of Greta Gerwig’s upcoming adaptation of Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, where she will lend her voice to one of the Beavers. The casting news was first uncovered by What’s On Netflix after details of the role appeared on Spiro’s professional online résumé.

Spiro, a multiple Olivier Award winner for her work on stage, is already familiar to Netflix audiences thanks to her role opposite Emma Mackey in the series Sex Education. She has also appeared in smaller roles across several high-profile television productions, including Game of Thrones and Doctor Who.

Her addition expands a gradually growing ensemble for the Narnia film, which already features names such as Daniel Craig, Carey Mulligan, and Denise Gough. Notably, Spiro’s role marks the first confirmed voice performance for any of the story’s talking animals in the production so far.

In an interesting bit of narrative symmetry, Beavers are among the very first creatures in the original novel to be granted the power of speech by Aslan. In Chapter 9 of The Magician’s Nephew, the Lion moves among the animals and selects pairs to receive this gift, touching their noses and calling them to follow him.

Beyond the Beavers, the book describes a wide range of animals who gain the ability to speak, including Badgers, Bears, Boars, Bulldogs, Donkeys, Elephants, Elks, Jackdaws, Moles, Owls, Panthers, Rabbits, Ravens, Warthogs, and many others—hinting at the rich and varied world of talking creatures that may eventually appear on screen in Gerwig’s adaptation.