Liam Neeson learned he had been replaced as the voice of Aslan during a live on-camera interview.
The 73-year-old Irish actor, who voiced the great lion in Walden Media’s 2000s trilogy, was completely unaware that Netflix and director Greta Gerwig were rebooting the Chronicles of Narnia franchise when he sat down with ScreenRant. Neeson had not even heard that production on The Magician’s Nephew was underway, let alone that Meryl Streep, 76, had been cast in his former role.
“I’m sorry — this is news to me,” Neeson admitted, looking visibly blindsided by the revelation.
“Well, I’m grateful to be the one to break it to you,” the interviewer responded.
“Oh. Great,” Neeson deadpanned, flashing what appeared to be forced enthusiasm.
When the host clarified that Streep would voice Aslan, Neeson’s eyes widened in genuine disbelief. “Meryl is playing Jesus Christ?” he asked, referencing C.S. Lewis’s well-known Christian allegory woven throughout the fantasy series.
Neeson paused for a moment, then cracked a broad grin and offered his full endorsement. “Well, if you’re gonna make Christ a lady, nobody better than Meryl.”
Streep’s casting marks a dramatic departure from Neeson’s three-film run as the divine protector of Narnia. The Oscar winner voiced Aslan in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Prince Caspian (2008), and The Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2010), establishing the character’s booming, authoritative presence for a generation of viewers.
Gerwig has been vocal about her specific vision for the role in The Magician’s Nephew, which serves as a prequel depicting the literal creation of Narnia through Aslan’s song. The director told Empire she sought someone who could balance seemingly contradictory qualities. “I wanted someone who was profound but not pretentious, who had gravitas but not morose self-seriousness,” she said. “Someone who could communicate depth and pathos as well as joy and delight.”
Gerwig continued: “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.”
The casting has already generated debate among fans of Lewis’s original novels, with some traditionalists questioning the decision to have a woman voice a character widely understood as a Christ figure. Gerwig’s adaptation, however, represents one of Netflix’s most ambitious film investments to date.
Neeson’s unfiltered reaction stood in sharp contrast to the carefully managed responses that often accompany Hollywood recasting announcements. Rather than offering prepared remarks, his surprise and subsequent warm endorsement of Streep played out in real time.
The Magician’s Nephew is scheduled to open in theaters on February 12, 2027, before streaming on Netflix beginning April 2.