Ben Whishaw thought he'd botched his audition to play Paddington

Here, he speaks to Radio Times about new film Paddington in Peru, using props to get into character, and his favourite emergency snack – spoiler alert: it's not marmalade.

When were you first approached to create Paddington’s voice?

It was over ten years ago now. I was very much against it because I had auditioned several times to do voice work for animation, and I was dreadful at it! But they were having problems and were already halfway through editing the first film and couldn’t find a voice.

Colin Firth was doing it but he stepped aside because he felt he was too old. I didn’t know that at the time. I auditioned and I didn’t think it was very good, and I went back a few more times, and I think they just gave it to me out of desperation, because time was ticking.

It was all incredibly rushed. We didn’t know what we were doing, but somehow something did kind of work. We had more time on the second film, because I was there from the beginning of the process. I now feel quite familiar with the character as I’ve also done three seasons of the animated cartoon.

What do you think is the key to Paddington’s voice?

I don’t like to think about that really. I have no idea what I’m doing when I do it. It’s not any different to my own voice; it’s not like I’m putting on a voice, but it is somehow different. Obviously, he’s saying Paddington-ish things, and then it’s just trial and error. It really comes down to the tiniest little breaths and the tiniest intonations and what works with the animation.

While recording the voice, you have to wear a motion-capture helmet with a camera, so the animators have a visual reference of your face. What’s that process like?

In a way, it’s just like any other kind of acting. I have to embody it. There’s always a moment at the beginning of the process where I feel very self-conscious, because I’m in the dark about it and I feel a bit silly, because I have to make these strange growls. And there’s no animation at that point. There’s a blank screen where the bear will one day be. I have to surrender my self-consciousness and just jump into it like a child. I play, muck around and try anything, but I also take it very seriously. I quickly forget that I’ve got the camera filming my face.

You also have Paddington props – a hat, coat, suitcase and umbrella. Do they help you get into character?

I put that hat on, or I have the umbrella, and I get given a pace. I act bits of it out, which is always really fun because, of course, Paddington’s smaller than I am, so I have to see everything from his perspective physically.

I gather that it really helps Pablo [Grillo], our brilliant animation director, and the rest of the extraordinary team, to have some physical things to start to build the animation around.

A lot of the cast filmed in Peru and Colombia. Were you able to go?

I would have loved to have gone to Peru and Colombia, but I didn’t get to go. I was just in a basement in Soho the entire time.

Do you spend any time at all with the rest of the cast?

I don’t meet them. I never met Antonio [Banderas] or Olivia [Colman] for this film, but I hope I will at some point, because I watched their performances and enjoyed them so enormously. On Paddington 2, I never saw Hugh Grant, not once.

I’ve heard that you don’t like marmalade, so what would be your emergency snack?

Sadly, I don’t like marmalade. It really doesn’t agree with me at all, but I am a big Marmite lover. Marmite with Lurpak butter on toast is, to me, pretty much heaven.

Paddington in Peru is very much about the idea of home and the conflicting emotions that brings up for Paddington. What does the idea of home mean to you?

For me, it’s much the same as this film – it could be anywhere. You make it and you find it. It may not be where you expect, and it may not be where you begin. I guess I have to say now that London feels like my home. I love it very much, even when it drives me crazy, or it’s drab and wet.

I suppose all of us who live here feel that conflicted relationship with it sometimes. When I’m away, even if I’ve enjoyed being somewhere else, I always feel ready and excited to come back to London.

Paddington often feels like he doesn’t fit in. Have you ever felt like that?

Oh, I feel that all the time. I think it’s very common, which is maybe why the character is so appealing, not just to children, but to adults too. It can be hard to always put on the front of being a civilised adult human being who knows how to interact with everyone. Paddington gets it wrong all the time, because he’s a bear, so it’s all quite mysterious to him, but he has learnt some things. There’s something about his well-meaning nature and kind-heartedness that we can all relate to.

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Paddington in Peru will be released on Friday 8th November 2024.

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