Andrew Garfield wanted role in Narnia films but wasn’t “handsome enough”

Between Tick, Tick… Boom! and reprising his role as Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Andrew Garfield is all the rage nowadays. Garfield has been great in every role he’s landed, so it’s hard to imagine him facing rejection. But back when the Chronicles of Narnia movies were being made, he was denied a dream role because the casting team didn’t find him “handsome enough.” Yikes!

Speaking with Variety, Garfield remembered when he auditioned to play the title role in 2008’s The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. “I remember I was so desperate. I auditioned for Prince Caspian in The Chronicles of Narnia and I thought, ‘This could be it, this could be it,’” he recalled.

However, after making it to the final two, the role was given to Westworld actor Ben Barnes. “And that handsome, brilliant actor Ben Barnes ended up getting the role. I think it was down to me and him, and I remember I was obsessed.”

After losing out on a part he was so keen on getting, Garfield consulted his agent and soon learned that the studio didn’t pass him by because of his acting skills; it was because of his appearance.

"Why not me? She eventually just broke under my incessant nagging and she was like, “It’s because they don’t think you’re handsome enough, Andrew.”"

Harsh. That said, Garfield isn’t at all bitter towards Barnes about it. “Ben Barnes is a very handsome, talented man,” he said. “So in retrospect, I’m not unhappy with the decision and I think he did a beautiful job.”

Andrew Garfield is winning awards and raking in box office cash

Who knows where playing Prince Caspian would’ve taken Garfield’s career? Although it’s hard to picture him being more successful than he is now. I mean, not everyone gets the opportunity to play a character as universally adored as Spider-Man. Moreover, this week he picked up a Golden Globe for “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy, or Musical” for his stellar work on Tick, Tick… Boom!

So too did Ben Barnes’ career blossom. Last year, he returned to the world of fantasy to portray General Kirigan in Netflix’s Shadow and Bone.

Perhaps Garfield’s Narnian aspirations don’t have to end. In 2018, Netflix announced that they had acquired the rights to the books in a super-expensive deal. The streamer confirmed that there are already both movie and TV projects in development. That said, it has been a few years now, and things are still quiet, so who knows where the projects are in development?

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