# Anna Popplewell
**Anna Popplewell** (full name Anna Katherine Popplewell, born 1988) is a British actress best known for playing [Susan Pevensie](https://www.edgepedia.org/susan-pevensie) in [The Chronicles of Narnia](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-chronicles-of-narnia) film series and for her later role as Lola in the television series Reign. Born and raised in London, she began acting as a child and was still a teenager when the first Narnia film made her internationally known.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name / birth | Anna Katherine Popplewell, born 1988, London, England[1](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/anna-popplewell/bio/3000029494/) |
| Signature role | Susan Pevensie in The Chronicles of Narnia film series; she also voiced Susan in the Narnia video games[1](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/anna-popplewell/bio/3000029494/) |
| Screen debut | The TV movie Frenchman's Creek, 1998, at age 10; joined the Allsorts Drama School at age 6[1](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/anna-popplewell/bio/3000029494/) |
| Narnia timeline | First audition at 13, filmed The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at 15, released at 17, filmed Prince Caspian at 18[2](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20080514_Anna_Popplewell_grew_up_in_her__Narnia__role.html) |
| Education | Studied English Literature at Magdalene College, Oxford[1](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/anna-popplewell/bio/3000029494/) |
| Awards | Camie Award winner, 2006; Young Artist Award nomination, 2009; Streamy Award nomination, 2013[1](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/anna-popplewell/bio/3000029494/) |
## Early life and first roles
Popplewell grew up in London as the daughter of a barrister and a doctor[3](https://outnow.ch/en/News/2008/07/30/The-Chronicles-of-Narnia-Prince-Caspian-Interview-with-Anna-Popplewell-and-Skandar-Keynes). She joined a drama club called Allsorts Drama School at age 6, was discovered in a children's acting group and sent to a casting, and received her first television role at age 10[1](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/anna-popplewell/bio/3000029494/) • [4](https://www.filmreporter.de/stars/interview/1409-Englisch-Studium-in-Oxford). Her screen debut came in the 1998 TV movie Frenchman's Creek, and she went on to appear in feature films including [Mansfield Park](https://www.edgepedia.org/mansfield-park) and The Little Vampire, as well as Peter Webber's Girl with a Pearl Earring, before her Narnia role[1](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/anna-popplewell/bio/3000029494/) • [3](https://outnow.ch/en/News/2008/07/30/The-Chronicles-of-Narnia-Prince-Caspian-Interview-with-Anna-Popplewell-and-Skandar-Keynes).
## Casting and filming Narnia
**A long casting process.** Popplewell had read the Narnia books at about age 7 and reread them at 14, during the casting process[5](https://www.chud.com/5257/interview-william-moseley-anna-popplewell-narnia/). She later described the selection as a long process: after a standard audition she was called back repeatedly, and the producers auditioned the children together to see whether they fit as a family; script rewrites stretched the casting to over a year[6](https://www.narniaweb.com/2021/12/anna-popplewell-talks-being-cast-as-susan-pevensie-staying-in-touch-with-narnia-co-stars/). Her co-star William Moseley put the process at 18 months, with roughly 2,500 children auditioned[5](https://www.chud.com/5257/interview-william-moseley-anna-popplewell-narnia/).
She was 13 at her first audition, 15 when she made [The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-lion-the-witch-and-the-wardrobe), 16 at the end of the shoot, and 17 when it was released in December 2005; she filmed the sequel, [Prince Caspian](https://www.edgepedia.org/prince-caspian), at 18[2](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20080514_Anna_Popplewell_grew_up_in_her__Narnia__role.html) • [7](https://www.narniaweb.com/2008/05/daily-mail-interviews-anna-popplewell/). The scale of the production surprised her: the sets in New Zealand and the size of the crew were larger than anything she had worked on[5](https://www.chud.com/5257/interview-william-moseley-anna-popplewell-narnia/).
**Susan's expanded action role.** In Prince Caspian, Susan takes a more active part than in the first film, using her bow and arrow, developing a crush on Caspian (Ben Barnes), and fighting the Telmarines. Popplewell trained in archery and horse riding for the role and performed fight scenes in 40-degree heat wearing heavy armor; she nearly fell off a horse during stunt work[2](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20080514_Anna_Popplewell_grew_up_in_her__Narnia__role.html). In the first film she had done some archery but little action[2](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20080514_Anna_Popplewell_grew_up_in_her__Narnia__role.html).
Prince Caspian was not her last appearance as Susan: she also played Susan briefly in [The Voyage of the Dawn Treader](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-voyage-of-the-dawn-treader) (2010), although Susan does not appear in that novel[7](https://www.narniaweb.com/2008/05/daily-mail-interviews-anna-popplewell/) • [12](https://www.narniaweb.com/2020/12/anna-popplewell/). During the filming of the first movie she kept a journal that was later published in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Official Illustrated Movie Companion[8](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0691600/). One scene caused her particular trouble: in the Stone Table sequence, where mice gnaw the ropes binding the dead Aslan, she had to work alongside the animals despite being terrified of mice[9](https://www.narniaweb.com/2005/08/ctm-interviews-anna-popplewell/).
The first film earned more than 745 million dollars worldwide and led to two sequels[10](https://los40.com/2025/12/12/los-actores-de-las-cronicas-de-narnia-se-reencuentran-20-anos-despues-del-estreno-y-emocionan-a-los-fans/).
## University and later work
After Prince Caspian, Popplewell returned to her studies. She read English Literature at Magdalene College, Oxford, the college where [C. S. Lewis](https://www.edgepedia.org/c-s-lewis) taught and wrote the Narnia series, and took part in amateur student theater, which she valued because it let her take risks without professional consequences[1](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/anna-popplewell/bio/3000029494/) • [2](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20080514_Anna_Popplewell_grew_up_in_her__Narnia__role.html). In a 2008 interview she explained her choice of subject by her interest in people, which she found in both acting and literature[4](https://www.filmreporter.de/stars/interview/1409-Englisch-Studium-in-Oxford).
Her later screen work includes the interactive hostage thriller The Gallery (2022)[8](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0691600/). She also appears regularly at fan conventions, including multi-fandom events in London, Paris, and Basel and Reign-focused events[11](https://www.rostercon.com/en/people/anna-popplewell-en).
## Recognition
In 2006, Popplewell earned a Camie Award for her work in [The Lion](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-lion), the Witch, and the Wardrobe; three years later, in 2009, her role in Prince Caspian brought a [Young Artist Award](https://www.edgepedia.org/young-artist-award) nomination in the category Best Performance in a Feature Film, Young Ensemble Cast; and in 2013 she was up for a Streamy Award in the Best Female Performance, Drama, category[1](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/anna-popplewell/bio/3000029494/).
## The cast's lasting bond
The Narnia experience has remained part of her public life. At the German Comic Con in Dortmund in 2021 she said she still saw her co-stars often, calling Ben Barnes one of her best friends and describing a reunion at [Georgie Henley](https://www.edgepedia.org/georgie-henley)'s house attended by [Skandar Keynes](https://www.edgepedia.org/skandar-keynes), William Moseley, and [Will Poulter](https://www.edgepedia.org/will-poulter); she said the shared experience had bonded the group forever[6](https://www.narniaweb.com/2021/12/anna-popplewell-talks-being-cast-as-susan-pevensie-staying-in-touch-with-narnia-co-stars/). In August 2025, the four Pevensie actors spent several days together in London with director Andrew Adamson, and Henley's Instagram photographs of the meeting, including a near-exact recreation of a 2005 behind-the-scenes shot, drew a strong nostalgic response from fans twenty years after the first film's release[10](https://los40.com/2025/12/12/los-actores-de-las-cronicas-de-narnia-se-reencuentran-20-anos-despues-del-estreno-y-emocionan-a-los-fans/).
## References
1. [Anna Popplewell Biography, Celebrity Facts and Awards, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/anna-popplewell/bio/3000029494/)
2. [Anna Popplewell grew up in her 'Narnia' role, The Philadelphia Inquirer (May 14, 2008)](https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20080514_Anna_Popplewell_grew_up_in_her__Narnia__role.html)
3. [The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: Interview with Anna Popplewell and Skandar Keynes, OutNow (July 30, 2008)](https://outnow.ch/en/News/2008/07/30/The-Chronicles-of-Narnia-Prince-Caspian-Interview-with-Anna-Popplewell-and-Skandar-Keynes)
4. [Interview: Anna Popplewell, was kommt nach Narnia?, FILMREPORTER.de (August 3, 2008)](https://www.filmreporter.de/stars/interview/1409-Englisch-Studium-in-Oxford)
5. [Interview: William Moseley & Anna Popplewell (Narnia), CHUD.com (December 5, 2005)](https://www.chud.com/5257/interview-william-moseley-anna-popplewell-narnia/)
6. [Anna Popplewell Talks Being Cast as Susan Pevensie, Staying in Touch with Narnia Co-Stars, NarniaWeb (December 16, 2021)](https://www.narniaweb.com/2021/12/anna-popplewell-talks-being-cast-as-susan-pevensie-staying-in-touch-with-narnia-co-stars/)
7. [Daily Mail Interviews Anna Popplewell, NarniaWeb (May 28, 2008)](https://www.narniaweb.com/2008/05/daily-mail-interviews-anna-popplewell/)
8. [Anna Popplewell, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0691600/)
9. [CTM Interviews Anna Popplewell, NarniaWeb (August 2, 2005)](https://www.narniaweb.com/2005/08/ctm-interviews-anna-popplewell/)
10. [Los actores de 'Las Crónicas de Narnia' se reencuentran 20 años después, LOS40 (December 12, 2025)](https://los40.com/2025/12/12/los-actores-de-las-cronicas-de-narnia-se-reencuentran-20-anos-despues-del-estreno-y-emocionan-a-los-fans/)
11. [Anna Popplewell, Roster Con](https://www.rostercon.com/en/people/anna-popplewell-en)
12. [narniaweb.com](https://www.narniaweb.com/2020/12/anna-popplewell/)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 2000s onward › Surnames N to P*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license