Stepping back into Paddington’s iconic red Wellingtons is no mean feat, but actor Ben Whishaw has been more than happy to reprise the role that has been a household name for generations. “He always brings joy,” says Whishaw. “Paddington always brings optimism. He’s unfailingly kind. He’s never knocked down for very long, and he bounces back up. I just think that there’s such a spirit in the films of the acceptance of difference, kindness, and respect. I think that is really valuable.”
In Paddington in Peru, we encounter Paddington, still with the Brown family, but in a brand new adventure in the jungles of Peru. “The big development in this film is that formerly Paddington’s been at Windsor Gardens in the Browns home, which is his home” adds Ben Whishaw. “But this film shows us the opposite, which is the Browns going out into the wild, into the jungle, and into the unknown. Each character faces something about themselves on this journey, and something about their place within the family. There’s something very moving about how they’re brought closer together through this endeavour.”
Joining the new journey is the new director helming the film, Dougal Wilson, who Whishaw feels is the perfect person to navigate Paddington in Peru. “He’s done the only thing I think a director can do who’s taking on this kind of film, which is just to make it completely his own and really inhabit his own version of Paddington. I will watch Dougal and I’ll see him feeling his way into the character, and how he would like a line to sound. I can feel a Paddington quality about him.”
Voice actors, especially for the leading role, can really set the direction and tone of a film, and for animation director Pablo Grillo, Whishaw is the cornerstone in which Paddington in Peru was built upon. “Ben’s voice underpins the entire performance. The tonality of his delivery is like a musical score that guides our animation. We’ve been running workshops with Ben, where he physically enacts scenes, providing us with true impulses and emotional shifts to tap into for Paddington’s performance.”
In inhabiting the role of Paddington, Whishaw emphasizes the importance of collaboration, even if he’s not physically in the film. “Whilst the process of recording for me is quite solitary, I’m not completely alone because I have Dougal, and I have Pablo” says Whishaw. “I also have the beautiful work of the actors on the screen, which I’m trying to always respond to. There’s a kind of magic that happens, and I’ll do my bit, which might be the voice, but also some of the physicality. Pablo will go away with the extraordinary team of people, and some magic is done.”
A wild jungle adventure awaits as Paddington in Peru arrives in Philippine theaters on January 29.