The Girl From The Chronicles Of Narnia Grew Up To Be Gorgeous

Georgia Henley, who played Lucy in "The Chronicles of Narnia," was one of four child stars to be solidified within the pop cultural zeitgeist in 2005 through the first installment of the film franchise "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe." Cast at just 7 years old, the young actress immediately won audiences over with her adorable, yet emotionally mature, portrayal of the youngest member of the Pevensie family, Lucy. 

Alongside her on-screen siblings, as well as James McAvoy's Mr. Tumnus and the godlike talking lion Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson), the fantasy flick saw Henley help to free Narnia from the oppressive reign of Tilda Swinton's White Witch, before being crowned Queen Lucy the Valiant. She later reprised this role in the series' sequels, 2008's Prince Caspian and 2010's The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

While cultivating an impressive and multi-faceted career as an actress, writer, and director, Henley has gone on to become a blossoming force in the entertainment industry. So, what do you need to know about the real life and career of Georgie Henley? To start, she's grown up to be gorgeous.

It's hard to believe, but Henley nearly missed out on her breakout role in "The Chronicles of Narnia." "It came out of nowhere," the actress told WhatsOnStage in 2018. Explaining that her school's drama teacher had landed her the initial audition, she shared, "My parents at one point took me out of the process because they had reservations about the whole experience, they'd heard about how it can corrupt young child actors, but my sisters talked them round."

And the rest, as they say, is history. However, it wasn't until the series came to an end in 2010 that Henley realized just how much her acting debut had impacted her life. "I've always had a guaranteed schedule with these films and I always knew what I would be doing the following year. Now I don't know what I'll do," she told The Telegraph at the time. "It's a safety net that I'll miss. I've grown up with Lucy and she's been a huge part of my life."

Unfortunately, most child stars don't grow up to be as successful and well-adjusted as the likes of Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe, Elijah Wood of Lord of the Rings, or Georgie Henley herself. As such, Henley used her platform to speak out on the unique pressures placed on children in Hollywood.

"When you've acted as a child and you continue to act as an adult, for some reason people want you to fail," she wrote in a thread on the platform then known as Twitter in 2018. While highlighting child and adolescent psychotherapist Margot Waddell's notion of "destructive envy," Henley urged her followers to "remember these are still children, going through whatever they need to go through to become whatever they're going to be." She concluded, "I just feel very lucky that social media wasn't around when I was doing press junkets at 10 years old. And I'm SO lucky that I have wonderful parents who put my happiness and well-being above any kind of professional ambition."

After wrapping production on "The Chronicles of Narnia" film series, Henley refocused her energy on her education. "I went on and had a normal school life with some smaller film projects on the side," she told WhatsOnStage in 2018.

However, the actress' fame unfortunately made her the target of bullying during her grammar and secondary school days, which made her feel like she "really couldn't do theatre" at the time. However, she went on to study English literature at the prestigious Cambridge University, where her newfound anonymity became "invaluable" in terms of having the opportunity to hone her craft and rebuild her confidence. 

"Getting into Cambridge was a really big achievement for me because I've had to juggle studying and work commitments, and making the decision to go to university meant that I could only do projects I really wanted to do," Henley told Varsity in 2016. "I decided that for the three years I'm at Cambridge I want to focus on experimentation, especially with theatre, and take time out of professional work."

After finishing the "Narnia" films, it seemed that Henley has been picky about the film projects she's taken on and tended to hold out for the right parts ... albeit with mixed results. In 2014, she returned to the big screen with the crime drama "Perfect Sisters," which scored just 27% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, she received praise for her performance in "The Sisterhood of the Night" the following year (via The Wrap), and she later appeared in 2017's "Access All Areas," which largely flew under the radar despite being picked up by Amazon Prime.

Henley's ultimate post-Narnia strategy was to avoid being typecast by experimenting with different roles, as she shared in an interview with Varsity. However, she later admitted to WhatsOnStage, "I do find it very difficult to find roles that I as a woman would want to see portrayed — 80 percent of the roles that I read I just go 'really?'" She added, "I'm lucky that Lucy was a character who was independent, confident, and entirely firm in her own convictions. I want to avoid being there as a device, so the lead actor can learn something. I want characters with journeys."

While Georgie Henley devotes much of her time and energy to acting, writing, and directing, she's also an activist who advocates for issues close to her heart, including healthcare, poverty, and human rights (via Look to the Stars). The multi-talented actor is also highly engaged on social media, and she has used popular platforms like Twitter and Instagram to speak out on various social justice issues, to address her own mental health struggles with acceptance and self-esteem, and to even preach online safety after impostors pretended to be her social media.

Henley's activism has been fueled by the increasingly divisive sociopolitical state of world. "Intolerance. And incompetence," she replied in 2018 when Theatre Weekly asked what makes her angry. "And there's one man who is the epitome of both those things who is President of the USA." She added, "I get angry about so many things I read in the news. But I think it's good to be angry. If we stop being angry about what's going on around us then we normalize those injustices."

When Georgie Henley isn't acting, she likes to keep busy working behind the scenes as a writer or director. 

The actress first took on these new roles in 2016 with Tide, a short film that focuses on the relationship between a lesbian couple while exploring their daily lives in a small seaside town. In addition to beginning to develop her second short film project in 2018 (via WhatsOnStage), Henley worked on "Tide" as part of her university course, which sparked a desire to take on more behind-the-scenes roles in the entertainment industry. "I want to continue acting, but also being given the freedom to write and direct in Cambridge has been amazing and made me realize that it is something I want to pursue," she told Varsity. 

While noting that "it's difficult for women to be taken seriously in the industry," Henley added, "You just have to put yourself out there and believe in your work. You have to convey that you have a story and a message, and that's what I want to do: Whether I'm acting, writing, or directing, I want to tell stories that wouldn't otherwise be told."

Writing has been a lifelong interest of "The Chronicles of Narnia" star Georgie Henley, and as her career has progressed, she's been able to apply that passion to her work as an actor, getting behind the camera and creating short films. But, she's also pursued other creative writing opportunities outside of the entertainment industry. 

Henley published her first poem, "Common Ground," in 2018. This spurred the actor to pursue her poetry more seriously. Explaining her creative process to Country & Town House, Henley said: "I had a lot I wanted to say, and my world was expanding tenfold ... and then when the pandemic happened I thought, 'I don't want to have any creative regrets, I want to be brave and take the leap and put them into the world.' I feel like poetry can be an outstretched hand."

In 2020, Henley had another poem, this one titled "Blush," published in a poetry anthology by queer authors. The publishing company, Fourteen Poems, then released an exclusive collection of Henley's work in 2023. Titled Amphibian, the pamphlet of poems explores gender and the body. "These poems are sensual, entrancing, feminist and powerful," the synopsis explains, per Fourteen Poems. Sharing a peek inside the book on Instagram, Henley wrote: "Making this little green book has been such a labor of love and I am so humbled and glad that it has resonated with people."

Henley made her professional stage debut in the world premiere of Philip Ridley's play "Angry" in 2018. "It's a collection of monologues which focus on different ideas of anger, whether it's terrorism, or self-loathing masquerading as tough love, or how we normalize violence," she told Theatre Weekly at the time. "Tyrone [Huntley] and I perform all six monologues but we alternate which ones we do in each performance, so it's fascinating how the same words take on new meanings when interpreted by a man and a woman."

The production itself received mixed reviews, with The Guardian giving it just two stars out of five. However, Henley's performance was praised by critics. "Henley's physical control and ability to construct countless individuals feels uncannily effortless," read WhatsOnStage's review, "and, for a performer making their professional stage debut, this no doubt bodes well for the future." The experience proved to be transformative for Henley, who grew more confident in her abilities as an actress. As she reflected on Instagram a year later, "I had no theatrical training or professional experience ... I'm so grateful to them for believing in me."

In 2018, Netflix announced plans to adapt "The Chronicles of Narnia" into its own film and TV series, according to Deadline. However, it seems very unlikely that Henley will play a role in these projects. "I'm very excited about what's to come, and I hope to be moving on to new things," she'd previously told Cinema Blend in 2010. "But all good things come to an end. Also, Narnia has taught me everything I know about acting, and I wouldn't be anywhere without it."

Despite moving on from Narnia, Henley has remained close with her on-screen siblings: William Moseley (Peter), Anna Popplewell (Susan), and Skandar Keynes (Edmund). "In terms of keeping in touch, we're all doing different things but, whenever we can see each other, we do," she told Varsity in 2016. "We spent so much time together that we genuinely are so close. It's great, I love them so much." Following a Pevensie family reunion in December 2018, Henley playfully captioned side-by-side snapshots of the four together with, "Older! wiser? still blurry."

Georgie Henley made the most of the years she spent at Cambridge University, soaking up knowledge and new experiences, like working behind the camera and getting stuck into the world of theater. However, when her studies were over and she graduated, Henley was ready to get back to acting professionally. She moved to London and put feelers out for auditions, but it wasn't that easy.

It ended up taking another year and a half before she actually booked a role. "I kind of felt like I had to start from scratch even though I wasn't," she said on "An Actor Despairs" podcast. At the time, it felt hopeless, but looking back, Henley can pinpoint exactly what her problem was. "My confidence was letting me down. I just didn't feel like I belonged in the industry anymore," Henley explained. "The Chronicles of Narnia" star felt she was being affected by outside pressures and was overwhelmed about transitioning from a child star to an adult actor, not wanting to feed into the narrative of "if you work as a child, you don't work as an adult."

Henley eventually built her confidence back up and booked the role-playing Natalie in the comedy-drama "Access All Areas," which is about a group of teens who run away to go to a festival on a remote island. She starred alongside "Yellowjackets" actor Ella Purnell and Edward Bluemel, who's best known for playing Sean in "Sex Education."

The HBO blockbuster series "Game of Thrones" ran for 8 seasons from 2011 to 2019. The show, which ranked high in the pop culture zeitgeist for the 2010s, was so popular that it was released faster than George R. R. Martin could write his best-selling books. 

Unsurprisingly, HBO Max was keen to capitalize on its success and a spin-off series was being workshopped before the battle for the Iron Throne had even concluded. In 2019, a pilot was filmed for the untitled spin-off which starred Georgie Henley alongside "King Kong" star Naomi Watts, "The Mortal Instruments City of Bones" actor Jamie Campbell Bower and "Reign" alum Toby Regbo. Thrilled to be a part of the series, Henley gushed on Instagram, "This still does not feel real and I've been waiting for someone to tell me it's a joke like in Bridget Jones ... I'm so unbelievably grateful and excited and terrified."

But, unfortunately, the spin-off — which was reportedly set thousands of years before "Game of Thrones" — never amounted to anything. After spending $30 million on production, Max decided to pull the plug. Instead, it put its efforts into "House of the Dragon," the show's first successful spinoff. Nevertheless, filming the unaired pilot was a good learning experience for Henley, and exactly what she needed at that time in her career. "My entire career at the moment is about wanting to learn more!" she told WhatsOnStage a year prior. "I just want to be this big porous sponge and soak up everything and then ask all the right questions afterwards," she said.

While Georgie Henley's "Game of Thrones" spin-off didn't take flight, 2019 still marked her return to the small screen in a big way. "The Chronicles of Narnia" star let the world know she was ready for more adult drama when she took on the role of Margaret "Meg" Tudor in "The Spanish Princess" on Starz.

Adapted from the work of author Philippa Greggory, the series tells the stories of Catherine of Aragon (Charlotte Hope), Mary Tudor (Sai Bennett), and Lina de Cardonnes (Stephanie Levi-John) as well as Meg. "The Spanish Princess" was praised for telling the story through a female lens rather than recounting male history. While speaking to Country & Town House, Henley expressed how important this is, and how it makes the series more relatable. "It's so important to interrogate history and the accounts that we're given, and to excavate the stories which haven't been told before," she said. "I'm in awe of the hoops these women had to jump through to be taken seriously, to balance motherhood and politics, to have their voices heard. I think so many women who watch the show will be able to relate to the task of juggling multiple responsibilities." 

Henley also explained that the series makes strides for historical representation by not "whitewashing" Lina's story. In a follow-up interview with Country & Town House, Henley added that working on the series with Harriet Walter, who played Margaret Beaufort, was a wonderful learning opportunity, calling their time together an acting "masterclass."

Georgie Henley took a break from working in front of the camera during the COVID-19 pandemic but returned to the small screen to star in two political series in 2023: "The Diplomat" and "Partygate." The latter is a satirical docudrama that portrays snippets of the U.K. Conservative Party during the pandemic. It fuses real-life political clips, such as moments from former Prime Minister Boris Johnson's broadcasts to the U.K. during the nationwide lockdown in 2020.

Henley took on this more political acting role because she felt like the series really had something to say. "Partygate makes you time travel, almost like that first 10 minutes of it you're just instantly plunged back into where we all were at that time and what we were doing, and we've all worked very hard to then look forward all the time. But we have to be able to look back, even though it's really painful, because that's the only way that we then make decisions and hold people accountable," she explained to Polyester.

The actor later opened up about how thrilled she was to be a part of the series on Instagram and urged her fans to check out the series, adding that it's meant to be a bit of an uncomfortable watch.

Georgie Henley achieved a high level of professional success at an early age thanks to her role as Lucy Pevensie in the "Narnia" films, but that didn't mean she'd automatically have a cushy or easy life. Actors are still just people who are susceptible to the same ills as the rest of the world. Unfortunately for Henley, she contracted a rather nasty and rare disease called necrotizing fasciitis when she was 18.

Although she didn't speak about it publicly at the time, in 2022, Henley shared her story on Instagram, explaining the horrific toll the disease took on her body and said that she was lucky to have survived it. "In order to prevent the amputation of my left hand and arm, I received grueling invasive surgery, and later extensive reconstructive surgery, which resulted in a series of skin grafts and scars," she revealed.

Scared that they would hold her back professionally, Henley hid her scars in public for years but has come to realize they're not something she needs to hide. "They are a map of the pain my body has endured, and, most importantly, a reminder of my survival. They do not affect my capacity as an actor, and I'm proud to be a person who has visible scars in this industry," she added.

Despite having 383K followers on Instagram and over 60k on X (the platform formerly known Twitter) as of December 2023, Georgie Henley has very little interest in social media and generally prefers to live her life offline. "I try to hold it at a reasonable distance," she told Country & Town House, though admitted she has been known to doom scroll on occasion.

However, this may be because she's been making up for all the years she never had social media at all. Henley is relatively new to Instagram. "Charlotte Hope helped me set up my Instagram when we were filming the first series of The Spanish Princess," she explained.

When she does have a desire to check her socials, Henley tries to make it a positive experience. "I make a conscious effort to only follow accounts that I find inspiring or nourishing or funny or thought-provoking, nothing that's going to make me feel bad about myself," she said. However, she's still convinced social media isn't something one needs in their life and said that any future children she has will be growing up in the real world with no social media until they're at least 16 years old.

If you've been a fan of Georgie Henley since her "Narnia" days, then you might have noticed how her sense of style has changed over the years. For example, when she attended press events and the premieres of the fantasy films, she typically wore conservative, feminine dresses. However, as she's gotten older, Henley's sense of style has changed. It's evident from her Instagram page and the photoshoots she participates in that she enjoys experimenting with her style and making bold fashion choices. Henley often opts for bold colors in her outfits and uses fashion to express herself. Henley is also an avid promoter of sustainable fashion, revealing that some of her favorite pieces in her wardrobe come from vintage fairs and second-hand sites like Depop.

Speaking about her personal style during an interview with Square Mile, Henley gushed about one of her favorite pieces of clothing — a vintage navy Aquascutum coat. Describing it, she said it "treads a fine line between chaotic detective, '30s screen siren, [and] seller of fine watches." She added: "I feel genuinely powerful in a good coat, it's like armor. Plus, this one functions equally well as a blanket for impromptu naps on the go."

It's hard to believe little Lucy Pevensie from "The Chronicles of Narnia" is nearly 30 — especially since Georgie Henley's skin is just as youthful and glowing as ever. So how does the actor keep her skin looking fresh? Well, a strict skincare regime, of course!

"I'm a total skincare nut," the "Partygate" star admitted to Country & Town House. "I went through a stage of having quite bad skin when I left university, so I have to stay on top of a regime to keep everything in check," she explained.

However, she doesn't like to overdo it, saying she prefers to keep it to the simpler, the better, when it comes to her skincare routine. It's just "Vitamin C, moisturizer, [and] lashings of SPF50," according to the actor. Henley also stressed the importance of SPF during her interview with Square Mile, so this must be the secret of how she maintains her classic "English rose" look.

Georgie Henley has made it very clear that she's open to pursuing all kinds of creative opportunities as her career develops, and she certainly doesn't want to end up being typecast. In terms of acting, Henley wants to explore all avenues, especially genres like sci-fi and romance which she's done very little of so far.

Additionally, Henley told Square Mile that she wants to be a creator moving forward, whether that is in front or behind the camera or away from the screen altogether. She said: "I want to create my own work, to write and direct. I love acting, but there's something to be said for being with a story from its genesis and having agency over how it's told. To me, acting, and writing and directing go hand in hand. I look at someone like Greta Gerwig and see the same qualities in her directing work as I do in her acting — tenderness, wit, generosity."

As for what she wants to create, that's a work in progress. But Henley did tell Polyester that everything she's working on "has to relate with the queer experience." She continued: "I feel like it's my need to write it, but it's also recognizing that there just isn't enough of it, especially on screen."