Stars admit horror of 1978 classic left them upset
nightmarish scenes stuck in the minds of all those who watched, including Mad Max and X-Men star Nicholas, 29, who voices Fiver. He says: “The story is scary at times – particularly for me, watching Fiver’s nightmares, as they are fairly terrifying.”
His screen brother Hazel is voiced by James, 39, who e xpl a ins how thinking about the rabbit’s rapid heart rate helped him approach the role. He says: “The rate at which a rabbit’s heart beats is incredibly fast – to the extent that they can have heart attacks just from being overexcited or panicked.
“They have this thing where they can freeze if they are overstimulated, such as when they’re in the headlights of a car.
“In the world of Watership Down, that’s called ‘going tharn’.”
John also found an unusual way to get into his role.
He says: “If there’s a scene where Bigwig’s eating, I’ll get a bowl of grapes and do the scene with lots of grapes in my mouth.”
Watership Down, BBC One, next Saturday, 7pm, & Sunday, 7.20pm