BUNNY Bond star Gemma: I was petrified by first Watership Down... but our version isn’t half as scar y
It was very difficult for us. It was a choker. We love Louise as well. It was a big blow to all of us.
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They gleefully settled down for a couple of hours of fluffy bunnies bounding around fields without a care in the world.
The film soundtrack, featuring Art Garfunkel’s heavenly No1 hit, Bright Eyes, did nothing dispel the feeling it would be a warm, family-friendly movie.
But the film was a desperate tale of survival – showing nature red in tooth and claw.
Within the first ten minutes rabbits were being culled, just one of the scary scenes that lived on in the minds of many for years.
This Christmas the BBC brings us a t wo- part reboot of Richard Adams’s story Each episode is 100 minutes long.
The new version has less horror but still stays faithful to the bleakness of the best- selling book’s message.
The rabbits are voiced by a cast of top British actors, including Sir Ben Kingsley, Olivia Colman, James Mcavoy, Gemma Arterton, John Boyega and Nicholas Hoult.
Former Bond girl Gemma, 32, who plays Clover, said: “I remember seeing the 1978 animation when I was very young – and being petrified by it.
“Having revisited the story as an adult, it’s so pertinent, especially for these days and these times. I think in a way
Watership Down is supposed to frighten people. On one level it’s a harrowing, wake-up call to get us to look at what we are doing to our environment and society.
“I think without there being those elements it wouldn’t have the impact that it has. It’s an epic,
beautiful story but it’s filled with tragedy as well. That’s why it caters for so many.
“You can read Watership Down as a kid or as an adult and it will impact you at different points in your life for certain reasons.”
Star Wars actor John Boyega, 26, who voices Bigwig, B was also terrified by the o original.
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He said: “I can’t ca lie. It was too much. It was blo bloody and looked a bit strange and as a kid taking that in was very scary scary.”
In the origin original film, Fiver’s vision of poison and death makes him encourage the others to migrate from their warren. The ni nightmarish scenes stuck stuc in the minds of
all a t hose who watched, including Mad Max and X-men star Nicholas Hoult, 29, who voices Fiver.
He said: “The story is scary at times. Particularly for me, watching Fiver’s nightmares. They are fairly terrifying.” Nicholas said he had been blown away when he read the novel later in life.
He recalled: “I was excited by the opportunity to try to bring Watership Down to a new generation on such a huge scale as has never been done before.
“I think it’s a story you can relive in any decade.”
His screen brother Hazel is played by James Mcavoy, 39, who jumped at the chance to be in the star-studded production.
James explained how thinking about the rabbit’s rapid heart rate helped him approach the role.
He said: “The rate at which a rabbit’s heart beats is incredibly