ON TV CURRENT BUNNIES
Watership Down has been remade for a new audience – and it’s a got a fresh cast of stellar talent voicing the brave band of rabbits. James McAvoy, who voices Hazel, explains to O say James McAvoy is a fan of Watership Down would be an understatement. When producer Rory Aitken emailed the
Scottish actor about voicing Hazel in the new, four-part animated adaptation of the tale for BBC1, he was actually wearing his Watership Down T-shirt at the time.
“I took a selfie of myself, like, ‘Check it out man!”’ says the 39-yearold, as he talks about the series, alongside co-stars Gemma Arterton and Nicholas Hoult.
“And I am wearing that T-shirt right now,” he adds, lifting up his jumper to show it off.
“It’s actually a really beautiful T-shirt. I wanted to suggest we had it as part of our merchandise!”
Written by Richard Adams in 1972, Watership Down is a tale of adventure, courage and survival.
It follows a band of rabbits who flee their warren which is being destroyed by humans to make way for houses.
Led by a pair of brothers – Hazel and Fiver (Nicholas Hoult) – the rabbits’ journey to a promised land, and the hope of a more perfect society, is a treacherous one, as they face predators and adversaries.
The novel was previously adapted into a (rather terrifying) animated film in 1978, which boasted John Hurt and Richard Briers in its cast.
But this is the first time it has been made into a miniseries, which will air on UK screens over Christmas on BBC1. Internationally, it will be available on Netflix.
Taking part was a no-brainer for James, known for films such as X-Men, Filth and Atonement, and T V shows like Shame- less.
He first read the book (and loved it) when he was 20 and studying at drama school; they used it as material for a piece of work.
“We did a devised – already it sounds terrible – contemporary practice movement piece,” he recalls with a laugh.
James’s earliest memory of watching the film comes from when he was much younger. He had a friend from another part of town round after school, but with his “entire extended family” over, they had to sit right in front of the T V with their dinner.
“I was like, ‘We’ve got fish and chips and Watership Down, it’s fantastic!”’
“I looked at my friend and he was crying. He was like, ‘I want to go home!”’
For those who remember all too well how graphic the violence is towards the beloved bunnies in said film, fear not – this new interpretation is much more family-friendly.
Expect plenty of chuckle-worthy lines, impressive and colourful CGI countryside scenery and OK , yes, there’s the odd heartbreaking moment thrown in too.
There are also more female characters in this version; Strawberry, who is a buck, or male rabbit, in Adams’ novel, is voiced by Olivia Colman.
Other voices to listen out for include Sir Ben Kingsley as General Woundwort, John Boyega as Bigwig, Gemma Arterton as Clover, Miles Jupp as Blackberry, Freddie Fox as Captain Holly, and Anne-Marie Duff as Hyzenthlay.
However, the actors didn’t actually meet each other very much during recording.
Turning to look at the producers and director, who are also taking part in the discussion, James notes : “I think you guys are so excited to get the right people, and partly because the project is so attractive to us, and partly because you only need us for a small amount of time, you’re able to get pretty much who you want.
“The idea of scheduling everybody so they can be in the same country at the same point, or be in the room at the same time, is not even a thought!”
He continues drily: “People ask us what was it like making this and we are the worst people to ask. We came on three years ago and I’ve done, maybe, 10 sessions?!”
Not being able to play out the scenes together does bring up one or two challenges for the actors, mainly that they aren’t able to riff off each other.
“But maybe in the third session I started to hear what you did,” James says, turning to his co-stars with a smile, “and that was really exciting ”.
Did he have any visuals of the characters to help him develop the character?
“I remember there being a really good cardboard cut-out of Hazel,” he quips.
“And actually some really good artwork that I got to see, but other than that there wasn’t a lot.
“They show you essentially a flip book of really good sketches, but you’re kind of like, ‘I’m none the wiser!’
“There’s a lot of imagination involved. And a lot of you guys [the producers and director] really working overtime to try and give us an idea of what the environment is, what the environmental threat is.”
As for making the rabbit sounds? Yep, that is something that the stars actually have to do. They even recorded noises for when their characters are nibbling on food; apparently some stars ate lettuce leaves from a bowl to get it right.
The things actors do for their art, eh?