Anna Popplewell grew up in her 'Narnia' role

NEW YORK - It may seem like a dream to fans of C.S. Lewis' "Narnia" chronicles, but Anna Popplewell has been living Narnia for six years.

"I had my first audition for 'Narnia' when I was 13," she said in a suite at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, 52 floors over Central Park. "I made ["The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"] when I was 15, I turned 16 on set and it came out when I was 17. We made ["Prince Caspian," due out Friday] when I was 18 and now I'm 19. . . . It's been quite a big chunk of my life."

As Susan Pevensie, Popplewell takes a more active role in "Prince Caspian," using her bow-and-arrow to greater effect, developing a bit of a crush on the dashing Caspian (Ben Barnes) and kicking Telmarine butt.

"I wasn't involved in much of the action in the first movie although I did do some archery," she said. "But this time I did do some more training and the funny thing is you learn a technique and form and then you get on set and your costume doesn't move like that and the camera has to move around you so you have to change everything. But we had a great team of stunt coordinators to make sure that we all looked good, like action heroes.

"Learning to horse ride was great and it was really relaxing to get on the horse after work in the evening. It's not something I have an opportunity to do in London."

Since Susan is clothed in Middle Ages garb, Popplewell didn't need to get buff for the role, but being young and in shape was an asset.

"In terms of physical strength and stamina you need to be at a certain fitness in order to handle those fight scenes in 40-degree temperatures," she said. "The armor is heavy and hot, but any time you think you're too hot and exhausted you just look at a guy in a minotaur suit and you remember everything's OK."

All the stunt work, however, did have its risks.

"There was one point where I nearly fell off a horse, which was quite worrying," she said.

So can she really take out a charging warrior from 100 yards away?

"My friends in visual effects helped me with my aim," she said. "It's a safety issue. You can't have real arrows or we'd have a lot of dead camera crew."

Next up for the young actress is reading scripts, taking meetings and returning to Oxford for her education and amateur theater.

"The nice thing about student drama," she said, "is you're not being employed, so you can take as many risks as you want and nobody's going to bat an eyelid."

And for a next movie role, since Susan's time in Narnia is done?

"The answer at the moment is people in rooms," she said, "something that doesn't involve too many imaginary creatures." *