Benjamin Barnes (born August 20, 1981) is an English actor. He has appeared in such television series as Doctors and Split Decision. He appeared in the 2007 films Stardust and Bigga than Ben.

Barnes was born in London, England to a psychiatrist father and therapist mother. He is an alumnus of King’s College School, where he was a contemporary of film actor Khalid Abdalla and comedian Tom Basden. He studied Drama and English literature at Kingston University, London.

In February 2007, it was announced Barnes would play the role of Caspian in the forthcoming film adaption of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, directed by Andrew Adamson. Adamson said “Caspian is a coming of age and, to some degree, a loss of innocence story, with Caspian starting out quite naïve, then craving revenge and finally letting go of the vengeance.” While many readers interpret Caspian as a child, a passage in the novel mentions his age to be near that of Peter’s, so an older actor was sought to match Moseley. Barnes had read the novel as a child, and was cast in two-and-a-half weeks after meeting with the filmmakers. He spent two months in New Zealand horse riding and stunt training to prepare for shooting. Barnes modelled his Spanish accent on Mandy Patinkin’s performance as Inigo Montoya in The Princess Bride. Adamson did not expect to cast a British actor as Caspian, and said Barnes fitted well into the surrogate family of Adamson and the four actors playing the Pevensies. When cast, Barnes was set to tour with the National Theatre’s production of The History Boys: producer Mark Johnson joked Barnes “probably isn’t the National’s favorite actor right now”. Barnes left England without telling the Theatre. Barnes is also set to reprise his role of Caspian (this time as King Caspian) in the third film in the Narnia series, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Filming is expected to begin in October 2008 with a release date of May 7, 2010.

Barnes will be working his way around the world in June to promote his latest film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian. Barnes will also make his first ever appearance in Australia on the red carpet early June. In 2009, he will play John Whittaker in Easy Virtue.

Credit: Wikipedia