Poll: How Old Can Eustace Be?

[Anhun]

Yet another poll, I know. The conversation about Will Poulter aging has been discussed at length, but I wanted to focus on the character of Eustace, and his age in SC. He's 9 according to the timeline, but that doesn't mean he has to look 9 in the movie.

The question is: What is the oldest the character Eustace can be in a film adaptation of SC without having to change him significantly from the character we know in book SC? Note we're talking about the character , not necessarily the actor. For example, Anna Popplewell the actress was 15 or 16 when they filmed LWW, but her character Susan passed for 13.

You pick one choice as his maximum age. If you want to, you can also state a minimum age in a comment. Why did you pick that age range? Inquiring minds want to know . . .

For a more in-depth discussion of how this issue impacts Will Poulter specifically, here's the thread:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2874

[stateofgreen]

I changed my answer to the oldest age I prefer the movie character Eustace to be in a filmed adaptation of SC to 14 years of age. Because of what was brought up about that "boys rule, girls drool" observation Anhun made in the Narnia Movie News Section.

I want to see that important element of Jill and Eustace's relationship remain intact in a film treatment (what I love so much from the book----their childish bickering banter).

It's cute when it's 14 and under, but 15 and over starts to get pretty close to mimicking...."young adult" bickering/love-hate banter. The minimum age movie character Eustace for me would be I think 12...or a mature 11... Because with how they left VDT the movie....I envisioned and liked movie Eustace as looking 11-12 years old....which makes me even more upset about the fact that they didn't film VDT and SC back to back with Will Poulter and take advantage of how he looked then for consistency's/continuity's sake. Sigh.

[DamselJillPole]

He would have to be somewhere between 15 and 16 IMO, I really want Will Poulter back. He's awesome as Eustace.

[stateofgreen]

Just curious...did you submit a vote DJP?

[Anhun]

He would have to be somewhere between 15 and 16 IMO, I really want Will Poulter back. He's awesome as Eustace.

Why is 16 your upper limit? What would be a problem with 17-year-old Eustace, that wouldn't be a problem with 16-year-old Eustace?

[DamselJillPole]

stateofgreen no I haven't voted yet.

Anhun You're right, I thought about this and I honestly think that age doesn't matter anymore in these films, all the Pevensie's look twice as old then they should be so I guess why should Eustace's age be any different? That is my final conclusion on this age situation.

[Anhun]

all the Pevensie's look twice as old then they should be so I guess why should Eustace's age be any different?

Depends on which character you're talking about. The characters of Peter and Susan were not well-defined at all in the book, and they weren't central characters. For them, it wouldn't make a difference, as long as they didn't look like adults.

As for Lucy, the books LWW and PC portrayed her as solidly pre-adolescent. In the movie LWW, that's how she looked. In the movie PC, Lucy looked like a tween, but that's not a massive change. In VDT, Lucy went from a tween in the book, to an early teen in the movie. Again, a slight change.

In the case of Edmund, in LWW, he's pre-adolescent in both the book and the movie. Starting in PC, I felt he was much too old. The only reason why it didn't ruin the movie is that he was a sideshow, rather than a central character.

Now contrast that with Eustace. He is one of the central characters in SC, so it's important that his character make sense. In the books, his behaviors and dialogue paint him as completely pre-adolescent. For the movie, they can age the character up to a tween, possibly even early teen, and it might work. But, if they have a supposedly 15-year-old Eustace and Jill, talking and behaving the way the characters do in the book, they'll come across as weird and extremely immature . . . like cases of arrested development. It will be hard for audiences to accept them and relate to them.

Basically, aging Eustace up to 15 years would require a much bigger book-to-movie leap than any of the Pevensies underwent.

[Ithilwen]

I voted 16. That way, the oldest he'd be in LB is 17. If he was 18 in LB, technically he'd be an adult, which I think is a little too old for the boy who's supposed to be one of the youngest there.


~Riella

[Liberty Hoffman]

the only reason I voted 18 or up is because, well - Will is 18 and he's just going to get older. so if they are going to use Will, then he'll just have to be 'older' and we can hope that they can make him look younger like they did with Will and Skandar. after all, Ben did manage to pull off playing the 17/18 year old prince in PC.....

[Anhun]

This thread isn't about Will Poulter, it's about the character Eustace. Basically, every once in a while, someone in the forums or the news makes a comment whining about how if they don't start filming SC tonight Will P will be "too old," but they never explain what they mean by too old.

The fact of the matter is that they don't have to use Will P. With that in mind, what is the oldest they can make Eustace without having to change the character dramatically? I think an 18-year-old Eustace would be problematic if for no other reason than that he wouldn't be in grade school, so their wouldn't be Experiment House or any of the dynamics that go along with it.

[Eustace]

At the most I think he could be 17, but I would prefer him looking 14 or 15.

[Lilygloves]

I think Will can be older, obviously, but Eustace shouldn't look like he's about to go to college. I don't mind if Eustace is older, so I voted for 16. People usually look younger than they are, especially actors, and so that's why I figured if he's 16 he might look about 14. He needs to be mature enough to handle situations but young enough to not be perfectly responsible.

[PrincessAnna]

I think Will can be older, obviously, but Eustace shouldn't look like he's about to go to college. I don't mind if Eustace is older, so I voted for 16. People usually look younger than they are, especially actors, and so that's why I figured if he's 16 he might look about 14. He needs to be mature enough to handle situations but young enough to not be perfectly responsible.

However, in my opinion, Will Poulter looks like a 13 year old boy, the most sensible serious chose a Jill of 13 or 14 years old because I think that age in the movie of these two children would be 12 years old.