Director of new ‘Narnia’ movie takes heat over casting of Meryl Streep as Christ-like lion Aslan
Criticism over the recent casting of actress Meryl Streep as the voice of the Christ-like lion Aslan in Netflix’s "Narnia" adaptation has continued as some Christian and media figures question the choice. An online petition is also calling on Netflix to replace director Greta Gerwig for future "Narnia" films.
The petition, entitled, "Demand Netflix to replace director of the Narnia films," was started Friday on Change.org following negative reactions from some Christian fans and critics to the theological implications of a actress voicing Aslan, an allegory for Jesus Christ.
"Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew," written and directed by Gerwig ("Barbie"), is based on the 1955 novel, the sixth published and first chronologically in the children’s book series "The Chronicles of Narnia" by British author, literary scholar and Christian thinker C.S. Lewis.
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The film is set to hit theaters Feb. 12, 2027, and Netflix on April 2, 2027, but it was the recently announced casting of Streep that brought renewed attention to concerns from some Christians about altering the voice of Aslan, a character Lewis presented as a Christ figure in Narnia.
Movieguide founder Dr. Ted Baehr, who served as president of the Episcopal Radio-TV Foundation after it helped produce CBS’s classic 1979 animated adaptation of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," said he was confused by the choice.
"When I did it, they had a hundred million or more people who had read ‘Chronicles of Narnia.’ Now I'm sure it's double or triple. And most of them know that Aslan is a Christ figure, and we understand that Christ in the Revelation gets married to the church, that he's a guy, but he's fully God and Holy man. We understand all that, so with the change that they're doing, it's going to alienate a lot of Christians," Baehr told Fox News Digital.
Baehr, who noted that he spoke briefly with Gerwig about the film and that the 43-year-old filmmaker told him that, as a young woman, his version was her favorite, said she "comes at it from a different point of view."
"That doesn't mean that it won't do well at the box office, it just means that there will be an extra audience, maybe 110 to 140 million Christians that may not show up because they don't like that," Baehr said. "But you know, you can build a movie with a lot of one group or another, so it doesn't mean the movie won't succeed, it just means it'll lose an audience."
In his case, Baehr said he fought to ensure Aslan remained an uncompromised allegory for Jesus Christ in the 1979 adaptation.
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For her part, Gerwig, who has described herself as a Unitarian Universalist and churchgoer, has said she envisions her version as a "rock opera" and explained to entertainment site Empire that she wanted someone who was "profound but not pretentious, who had gravitas but not morose self-seriousness" to play the part of Aslan — someone, she said, "who could communicate depth and pathos as well as joy and delight."
She 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."
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Fox News Digital reached out to Gerwig’s agent, Creative Artists Agency CEO and co-chairman Bryan Lourd, for further comment.
Fox News Digital also reached out to Netflix for comment.
Ned Lott, a casting and voice director and producer who has worked in the animation industry since 2000 with companies ranging from Disney to Warner Bros. and Nickelodeon on projects including 2025’s animated "David" and 2005’s "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," recalled his experience casting Aslan for the 2005 film.
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"It’s like casting for the voice of Jesus, or the voice of God. Like, in my mind, it was very important that the character of the books, and the integrity of the books, matched the voice, and even the actor," he told Fox News Digital.
Lott said that when it came to casting Aslan for the 2005 film, he and his team auditioned dozens of British actors. But with just 24 hours left to make a decision, no one was completely satisfied.
"It still wasn't like a slam dunk, you know. And so, it was just this kind of moment where I was leaving work and I was like, I literally talked to God. I said, ‘Okay, we have to find your voice, and I have one more day. So I need some help, you know.’ And I got in my car, I turned on the radio and all of a sudden there was the voice," Lott recalled. "Like, literally, there was the voice of Aslan, and I didn't know who it was."
He did know it was a movie trailer for the 2005 film "Kingdom of Heaven," and so, after arriving home, he looked up the film on IMDb and saw that it was Liam Neeson, an Irish actor who had never appeared on their list of British celebrity thespians.
The rest is history, with Neeson famously voicing Aslan in three "Chronicles of Narnia" films.
Lott explained that casting is about the character rather than the performer and that there are instances in which a man has successfully voiced a female character. He cited director Brad Bird’s portrayal of Edna Mode in "The Incredibles" as one example. Lott said such casting is typically done for comedic effect.
Additionally, Lott cited tricks that can be done with pitch shifting and EQ settings, as well as a voice actor’s performance, that can leave audiences unaware that the voice actor is a different gender from the character.
Still, he said, this casting of Streep as Aslan leaves him puzzled.
"We took so much care with Aslan and really understood him. It just seemed like a choice that we would have not made back in 2005 because we understood the integrity of the books and tried to do as much as we could with the integrity of what the author had in mind," Lott said. "So, it’s just like a different philosophy. It’s not something I’m used to. Clearly, there’s an artistic reason."