Greta Gerwig On Why She Chose Meryl Streep To Voice Aslan In ‘Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew’

As Greta Gerwig leads Netflix viewers through the wardrobe with her take on Narnia, one major character will feature an instantly recognizable voice. The 4x Oscar nominee explained the “list is not a long one” when it came to narrowing down her search for Aslan to Meryl Streep, who will voice the lion in Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, premiering Feb. 12, 2027 in Imax before its April 2 Netflix debut. “I wanted someone who was profound but not pretentious, who had gravitas but not morose self-seriousness,” she explained to Empire of casting Aslan. “Someone who could communicate depth and pathos as well as joy and delight.” Gerwig added, “I wanted someone who was older than 70, so there was a wisdom of experience, but who also had the capacity of fresh wonder, like a child. And also to be one of the greatest actors to ever do it. That list is not a long one.” Watch on Deadline Previously voiced by Liam Neeson, Aslan is a talking lion and the true king of Narnia, appearing in all seven of C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books. Based on Lewis’ sixth in the series, The Magician’s Nephew is chronologically the first in The Chronicles of Narnia, following Aslan’s creation of Narnia, a thousand years before the events of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. In 2023, Gerwig confirmed her plans to adapt Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia books for Netflix. Streep became attached to the role of Aslan last April.