‘Narnia' Star Ben Barnes Excited to See Greta Gerwig's Upcoming Netflix Films: ‘There's No End to the Ways They Can Be Adapted'
'With classic literature, there's no end to the ways they can be adapted as long as it's being fresh and it's speaking to a new generation,' Barnes, whose breakout role was Prince Caspian in the 2008 and 2010 'The Chronicles of Narnia' films, told Variety. 'I think that those stories have this one, some fantasy really allows you to tell beautifully allegorical stories about hope and goodness and faith. I think that it'd be really interesting to see her take on that. I'm thrilled that ['Narnia'] is getting retold.'
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Gerwig is writing and directing the fantasy adventure, which reportedly follows 'The Magician's Nephew' — the sixth novel in the series by author C.S. Lewis. The cast will include Daniel Craig, Meryl Streep and Emma Mackey. Carey Mulligan is also said to be in talks to join the project.
Barnes drew a parallel between his characters in 'The Institute' and 'Narnia,' and how both characters have similarities on saving the day for a younger cast of characters. 'When I was in my early twenties, I was involved in telling those stories for the next generation,' he said. 'So, to get back to playing a man with a real firm grasp on his moral compass, who is fighting to stand up for what's right. It was something that I was really interested in.'
'The Institute' follows Luke Ellis (Joe Freeman) as he is taken as a captive into an undisclosed facility, where he finds himself and other children and teenagers with the same mysterious abilities such as telekinesis and telepathy. The MGM+ series features a cast of Gen Z actors.
''I'm really excited for people to just see that resilience and reflect it in Gen Z as well because we have such a strong generation and to represent that is amazing,' says Simone Miller, who plays Kalisha, one of the fellow teenagers who finds herself trapped at the Institute. 'I know a lot of people may not know our younger cast. It may be the first time you're seeing them, but it will not be the last. They are so incredible and bring nuance to multifaceted characters and I'm just so proud to stand alongside them and watch them flourish and get to be a part of their journey.'
Fionn Laird, who plays Nicky, one of the older teenagers who finds himself trapped at the Institute. 'I think I'm looking forward to them kind of seeing [Nicky] come out of his shell with Luke arriving at the institute and watching them at first be standoffish, but then having this brotherly relationship at certain points and watching that wax wane naturally.'
During the premiere, director Jack Bender and executive producer Benjamin Carvell introduced the first episode of the season, with a special recorded message from King, who proclaimed that the show was a faithful adaptation of the 2019 book.
'The Institute' Premieres July 13 on MGM+.
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Cosmopolitan
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"Hopefully it's doing something positive": My Oxford Year's Corey Mylchreest on portraying vulnerable men
The entire internet fell in love with Corey Mylchreest in 2023 when he starred as the young King George in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Fast-forward two years, and the 27-year-old actor is stepping into another heartthrob role - this time as charming professor Jamie Davenport in Netflix's My Oxford Year, opposite singer and actress Sofia Carson. "I did really feel like I knew what to do with Jamie," Corey says when we catch up over Zoom. "This doesn't always happen. I remember Benny Safdie saying that sometimes you have a character in you already that you can just walk onto set and it's there. I'm not saying that that's the case with me and Jamie, I just think that it wasn't so much of a leap. I could understand him quite quickly." Based on Julia Whelan's novel of the same title, My Oxford Year follows ambitious student Anna De La Vega as she moves to the UK for a year at university - only to unexpectedly fall for her endearing and handsome professor, Jamie, who is secretly battling terminal cancer. "I spoke to some really generous, kind and very open people, some of whom have experienced something like what Jamie's experiencing, some of whom have experienced a family member or a friend going through a journey similar to Jamie's right up until the end," Mylchreest tells me. "I'm so thankful. It's a really brave thing to do to speak to a stranger about something that's so personal. Some of those conversations were so pivotal and key in what I ended up doing and I wouldn't have been able to do the same thing that I did without that. It just informed everything." It's not the first time Corey has taken on a character carrying something heavy beneath the surface. His portrayal of King George delved into mental illness with depth and sensitivity. For Corey, playing these emotionally complex men - whether dealing with physical or mental health struggles - is something he sees as both a responsibility and a privilege. "As a man - well different people have different experiences - but never in your life are you really taught that it is all good for you to experience emotion on that level and cry in such an uncontrollable way", he says. "It's quite easy to do like one tear and be stoic and all strong about it, but to really let yourself go is difficult. It's important for me to still strive towards that. I mean, it's not why I do it, but hopefully it's doing something positive to show that men can be vulnerable." Like Jamie, Mylchreest says he often uses "humour as a defense mechanism" and is very "passionate" about one thing - Jamie's being his career as an English professor, and Corey, his acting. In fact, he's working on another project as we speak, telling me to ignore his 'bedhead' as he's just finished filming scenes in Weston-super-Mare. "I've been told not to wash it, because my character is meant to have curly hair, and apparently it's better. So, there's so much product in my hair right now," he reveals. In between filming, Corey has been squeezing in episodes of Love Island with his girlfriend, Hannah Holland, and housemate (priorities). "When will she learn?" he says, referring to Toni's chaotic triangle with Harrison and Lauren, before noting there's been a "switch" - and it looks like she might be moving on (spoiler: she did). While juggling his busy schedule and relationship can be hard, Corey is realistic about how to make everything work: "I think it's always, as anything is, about communication and again the choice, openness, understanding and, commitment." And he applies the same considerations to his on-screen relationships. Bringing Jamie's vulnerability to life also meant building real trust and connection with his costar Sofia - something that happened almost instantly for Corey. "I did the chemistry test with Sofia, met [writer] Iain [Morris], and that day I realised I really wanted to work with them both," he says, recalling the audition process. "She's [Sofia] such a ray of positivity. It's like all up, up, up, up, up. I don't know where she gets the energy, but, yeah, she's so amazing." The actor does have one bone to pick, however. Sofia introduced him to American sweet potato casserole with marshmallows on top while on set, and he wasn't a fan. "That's my one cultural lesson from filming: don't eat sweet potato pie," he laughs. In My Oxford Year, there's a memorable kissing scene in the rain between Anna and Jamie, but when I ask if Corey's had any romantic moments like that of his own, he keeps his personal recollections to himself. "I think love fundamentally is a doing thing. To love someone is a verb. It's a choice. And I think that's what's so beautiful about this [the film]," he says. "When there are difficult things for people in their life and people still choose to love them knowing that it will be harder for themselves as well, that is a really beautiful thing. It's also sort of why we're here, isn't it - to love? It's the most powerful, healing, weaponised - everything. It's everything." Born in London's Leytonstone in 1998, Corey was drawn to the film industry from a young age, initially dreaming of a career in visual effects. His interest shifted to acting when he found out a school friend was going to be in a play. "My mum told me that my friend who had moved school was doing a play and the burn in my chest of pain that it wasn't me... I never thought about doing it before, but the pain... I didn't know that was a thing," he says. He later attended Junior Guildhall, a Saturday school for music and drama, before graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Acting from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in 2020. Shortly afterwards, he was cast in open-air productions of the Shakespeare plays Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. In 2022, he landed a role in Neil Gaiman's The Sandman. Later this month, he'll star alongside Suranne Jones in Netflix's Hostage, a political thriller following a high-stakes kidnapping and blackmail plot during the French president's visit to the UK. "I play Matteo Lewis, who is the French president's stepson and the son of a sort of oligarchical figure in France. Sort of Rupert Murdoch-adjacent guy who controls all the media in France, and who works for an NGO and works to rehouse refugees, and that is in conflict with who the French president has politically become," he says of the role. 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My Oxford Year is available to stream on Netflix.
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Netflix adds 'heartbreaking sweeping romance' based on bestselling book
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Netflix has added My Oxford Year, the perfect summer romantic movie. Based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Julia Whelan, it stars Sofia Carson as ambitious American Anna, who follows her childhood dream of studying at Oxford for a year-long graduate programme. But when sparks fly between Anna and charming poetry professor Jamie (Corey Mylchreest), their relationship threatens the meticulous postgraduate life and career she planned for herself. It's directed by Iain Morris, who wrote and created the hit British sitcom The Inbetweeners. Sofia Carson, who is best known for the Disney musical-fantasy movie Descendants and its sequels, says: "Iain wrote and created one of the most iconic shows in British Television. "Comedy is his language, so his vision of this film beautifully created a timeless, heartbreaking, sweeping romance, but grounded in laughter. Within one scene, you may fall in love, you may cry, but he will always make sure the joy of laughter is present. "Our story reaffirms the belief that life's too short to not live it in love, to not live in joy. And I hope that truth rings true in the hearts of anyone who watches it." The all-star cast includes Dougray Scott and Catherine McCormack, alongside Harry Trevaldwyn, Poppy Gilbert and Hugh Coles. Sofia, who also acted as executive producer on the movie, knew she wanted Corey Mylchreest to play Jamie as soon as he came in for a chemistry read. "He's an extraordinary force of an actor," she says. "When it came time to cast Jamie, I knew it would be Corey. As soon as he walked into the room for our read in London, Anna and Jamie came to life instantly. "Together, we were dedicated to diving into Anna and Jamie's love story, to bring it to life with every bit of our hearts." The book it's based on "My Oxford Year" was first published in 2018. It was the debut novel by Julia Whelan, who's also known for her acting, having appeared in the TV series Once and Again from 1999 to 2002. Whelan also wrote "Thank You For Listening: A Novel", which, according to Amazon, "tells the story of a former actress turned successful audiobook narrator — who has lost sight of her dreams after a tragic accident — and her journey of self-discovery, love, and acceptance when she agrees to narrate one last romance novel". My Oxford Year is on Netflix now. See our best movies on Netflix feature for more recommendations. Solve the daily Crossword
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It streams on the Starz App or through platforms like Hulu and Prime Video. — The 'Welcome to Wrexham' spinoff "NECAXA ' premieres Thursday on FX on Hulu. After their success owning the Welsh soccer team Wrexham AFC, Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney join Eva Longoria and buy a stake in a Mexican club, NECAXA, 'It's more than winning games. We're gonna win hearts. We're gonna inspire pride. We're gonna empower the team,' Longoria says in the trailer. New video games to play from Aug. 4-10 — The Mafia series from 2K Games has moved from 1930s Chicago to 1940s New York to 1960s New Orleans, but now it's going back in time and space. Mafia: The Old Country aims to deliver an origin story of sorts, traveling to 1900s Sicily. Enzo Favara is a young man who's suffered a rough childhood, and he is hoping to improve his status by working for the Torrisi crime family. That means pulling off heists, punching out rivals and killing anyone who might threaten the Don. The cars may be slower and the weapons may not be as slick, but if you're bummed out about having to wait for the next Grand Theft Auto, you might want to spend some time with the original gangsters. It arrives Friday, Aug. 8, on PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S and PC.
