Peter Rabbit finally hops onto big screens

ONE of the first books I ever owned was a pop-up version of Peter Rabbit, with the cheeky little bunny trying to get into Mr McGregor’s garden to steal some carrots.

That was 30-odd years ago, yet the characters created so lovingly by Beatrix Potter in that book still very much have a place in our hearts today.

A new film out this week, Peter Rabbit, starring James Corden as the furry rascal, is set to bring the Potter magic to a new generation.

Unfortunately for James, making the film wasn’t so magical, as he recorded his voices in a dark room, and ended up feeling homesick.

“I didn’t really live in the world of the film,” he explains. “I was just in a room with no windows in sweat pants, voicing this wonderful character.

“I would watch where they filmed, though, and it made me very nostalgic and homesick,” says James, who has lived in the US since 2015, when he became the host of The Late Late Show.

“I mean, there’s no-one who grew up in Britain who isn’t familiar with these stories. Everyone reads them when they’re growing up.

“For that reason, I felt daunted by the prospect of voicing him. I felt a tremendous sort of pressure. I just wondered: ‘Am I really the right voice to do it?’

“It was only when I realised that it was the first time that the Beatrix Potter Estate had ever given blessing to a film script, having rejected decades and decades of people wanting to make one, that I felt very honoured to be asked.

“They felt this script was true to the character of Peter Rabbit, and it paid tribute to many of the moments and vignettes throughout all of the short stories.”

While Peter is inspired by a children’s book, James revealed that we could all learn a lesson from him.

“I think his best quality comes out in this film and what we can all learn from it is that everyone’s going to make mistakes,” he says.

“What’s important, what shows the true test of a character, is how you respond to those mistakes and what you do to rectify them and alter your behaviour after.

“That’s Peter’s journey really, that’s the greatest character arc that I think he has in the film.”

With James revealing he didn’t see a single other person while making the movie, you may imagine it would be difficult sitting there voicing a character you can see on the screen, but there were advantages.

“You can do so many versions of a line and then the director will pick the one he likes best for the final film,” he explains.

With the likes of Domhnall Gleeson and Margot Robbie on board, James had good company for the film, and Margot is confident that audiences will enjoy it.

“It’s based on the original Beatrix Potter stories, only through a modern lens,” she explains.

“It is so funny. It has the classic magical setting of the Beatrix Potter books that I loved, but it’s so funny and so alive.

“It was so hard to record my lines as I was trying so hard not to laugh at everything on screen!”

n Peter Rabbit is in cinemas from Friday, March 16.