Here’s The Magic Faraway Tree first look photo based on the series of novels for children that follows Polly and Tim Thompson and their children, Beth, Joe and Fran, who find themselves forced to relocate to the remote English countryside. There, the children discover a magical tree and its extraordinary and eccentric occupants.
Adapted by BAFTA Award-winner Simon Farnaby (Wonka, Paddington 2), the movie is directed by Ben Gregor (Britannia, Cuckoo, Black Ops, Fatherhood).
Playing the family are Academy Award-nominee, BAFTA, Golden Globe and Tony Winner Andrew Garfield (tick, tick… BOOM!, Hacksaw Ridge) and Golden Globe and two-time Emmy Award-winner Claire Foy (All of Us Strangers, Women Talking) as Tim and Polly, respectively. The Thompson children will be played by newcomers Delilah Bennett-Cardy (ITV’s Tom Jones, RSC’s Macbeth), Billie Gadsdon (Cruella, One Day) and Phoenix Laroche (The Velveteen Rabbit, Trying) as glimpsed here in The Magic Faraway Tree first look photo.
The inhabitants of the tree, capable of transporting visitors to fantastical far-off lands, will be played by Nicola Coughlan (Bridgerton, Derry Girls) cast as beloved woodland fairy Silky, Nonso Anozie (Sweet Tooth, Ted Lasso) as self-appointed group leader Moonface, Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer, The Outlaws) as Dame Washalot and Dustin Demri-Burns (Slow Horses, The Great) as Saucepan Man.
Rounding out the cast of the magical denizens of the woodlands will be Mark Heap (Friday Night Dinner, The School for Good and Evil) as Mr. Oom Boom Boom and Oliver Chris (Trying, My Lady Jane) as Mr. Watzisname, Hiran Abeysekera (The Life of Pi, The Father and the Assassin) as the Angry Pixie. British icons Sirs Lenny Henry, Michael Palin and Simon Russell Beale will play a trio of mystical wise men from the Land of Know-Alls, and Rebecca Ferguson (Dune, Mission Impossible, Silo, The Greatest Showman) joined the cast in the role of Dame Snap, the story’s terrifying headmistress, one of Blyton’s most iconic villains.
The role of the kids’ ruthless Grandma is played by Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous, Shrek 2), with Pippa Bennett-Warner (Gangs of London, See How They Run, Chloe) as her assistant, Hannah.
Filming has now wrapped, and took place on location across the South of England and at Shinfield Studios, Reading
Here’s Simon Farnaby introducing the comedy, Mindhorn……. watch it HERE
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