Skandar Keynes looks on as costar Georgie Henley gets up close and personal with lion cub Aslan at the Smithsonian Zoo during their recent trip earlier this month in Washington, D.C.
The 19-year-old actor recently revealed in an interview with the Inquirer about his first meeting with Georgie, now 15, and leaving acting behind for now. Check it:
On his first meeting Georgie: “I met her in one of the first auditions I had. I remember, I was terrified at the whole experience. I was like a deer caught in the headlights. I remember seeing her, and she was very energetic and was bouncing off the walls. I was very intimidated by the whole thing and all the new people. But, it was great to get to know her and the other cast, as well. We’ve all grown together as a family. Everyone gets put in these situations, where you’re stuck together and you have to make sure that everything’s good. There were never any real arguments. Everything just worked out. We all clicked and we were very grateful for that.”
On what he’s studying at Cambridge University: “I don’t have acting projects lined up right now. I’m focusing on my four-year degree in Arabic and Middle Eastern history. A lot can change in that time, and I’m not going to compromise that. I’m going to see what happens in four years’ time. I’m half-Lebanese. I’ve got a personal interest in these studies. I wasn’t brought up speaking Arabic. It was something I wanted to overcome, so I can go and live in Lebanon. We have a house there. And, academically, I find history—ancient and modern—very interesting.”
On the films featuring universal messages: “These films have a religious undertone. They have these messages. They’re not necessarily Christian messages, but universal ones. Turning the other cheek and being good to your neighbor and everything—those are universal values.”
