<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\nIn 2007\u2019s Bigga Than Ben<\/em>, Ben Barnes played an immoral Muscovite named Cobakka, who descends on modern-day London with his Russian pal to make a fortune from scams and deceit. Not a film to set the world alight, but a sly comedy none the less, and one that featured an edgy, whip-smart turn from Barnes \u2013 his hair is sheared short, not a frock coat or broadsword in sight\u2026 It\u2019s a shame that hardly a soul witnessed Barnes\u2019s debut starring role, otherwise he might have avoided the floppy-haired romantic typecasting that trailed his anointment as the swoony royal at the heart of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian<\/em> and its follow-up, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader<\/em>.<\/p>\n\u201cI still get lots of offers to play royalty and [for] films with swords in them,\u201d sighs the lifetime Londoner. \u201cThe industry loves to pigeonhole you, and most actors do everything they can to not have that happen, so I say, \u2018No, I want to do something with a gun \u2026\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Barnes\u2019 latest, Killing Bono<\/em> was just the ticket. It may be the project that finally shatters the \u201cperiod-stud\u201d glass ceiling looming over Barnes\u2019s newly-shorn head. Adapted from Daily Telegraph<\/em> music critic Neil McCormick\u2019s autobiographical tome I Was Bono\u2019s Doppleganger<\/em>, the film is a knockabout comedy about what it\u2019s like watching your school mate launch the world-conquering, anthem-belting band U2 while trying to become a rock star yourself \u2013 and failing abysmally.
\n\u201cI like to pretend to people that I\u2019m cool even if I\u2019m not,\u201d chuckles Barnes, tucking into a plate of spaghetti bolognese in a quiet corner of Rankin\u2019s Kentish Town studio before getting down to the Wonderland<\/em> photo shoot. \u201cIn Killing Bono<\/em>, you\u2019ll realise what an idiot I truly am.\u201d He says this with such gusto, you can tell it\u2019s sweet music to Barnes\u2019s ears that movie audiences will finally get to experience him in another light \u2013 as a \u201ccomplete fuck-up who can\u2019t get out of his own way\u201d.
\nThe actor felt well suited to the role. McCormick\u2019s book was adapted by Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais, who also scripted one of his favourite films, The Commitments<\/em>, \u201cabout white boys trying to sing soul, which was completely me when I was growing up. I wanted to be Stevie Wonder when I was 16 and it clearly was never going to happen.\u201d Like McCormick, it didn\u2019t stop him trying and served him in good stead when it came to portraying a desperate wannabe who hops aboard every musical trend of the era trying to crack open fame\u2019s door, with Barnes mimicking the on-stage styles of Bowie, Jagger (\u201cintense eyes and flappy arms\u201d) and the \u201cweird dancing\u201d of the New Romantics. <\/p>\n\u201cHe basically gets more and more irritating,\u201d says the actor, who went directly from Dawn Treader<\/em>\u2019s Australian set into Killing Bono and admits that segueing from a mega-fantasy franchise into someone\u2019s real-life story was \u201cweird \u2026 but brilliant. <\/p>\n\u201cI was so ready to do the opposite of what I\u2019d just been doing. It\u2019s just a change of mood you want \u2026 After Bono, I was clearly looking for something heavy because I spent six months in the West End doing Birdsong<\/em> \u2013 grim, depressing World War One\u2026 After that I weighed nothing, I was grey \u2013 it ripped me apart.\u201d<\/p>\nThe son of a psychotherapist mother and psychiatrist professor father, the raven-haired actor grew up in Wimbledon and fell in love with music, acting, singing and playing drums in various jazz, rock and soul bands in his teens before taking a brief, ignominious stab at pop stardom. His stint in the short-lived band Hyrise, longlisted as the UK\u2019s Eurovision entry in 2004, still raises a grimace. \u201cThat definitely put me off [pursuing a music career],\u201d Barnes groans. \u201cNot so much at the time \u2013 I\u2019 just saw it as something fun to take part in. It was very short \u2013 literally, we performed that song two or three times and it was over.\u201d Thanks to YouTube and Barnes\u2019s burgeoning film career, however, it\u2019s seeped permanently into the pop-culture ether. \u201cI don\u2019t resent that but I\u2019m not too proud of it because boy bands will never be cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
With his 30th birthday looming, Barnes still shares a flat with his brother in south-west London, just round the corner from their parents. \u201cWhen I come back from other countries, I want to be around things that feel like home,\u201d he explains. One thing that never changes is how he keeps most of his personal life very private.
\nThe Narnia<\/em> franchise might be over for Barnes (Caspian doesn\u2019t appear as a young man in further adventures), and he\u2019s currently hanging out in LA. What comes next, however, is unpredictable. And that\u2019s fine for Barnes.\u201cI rely on this job to give me spontaneity in my life. I\u2019m not an adventurer. I rely on this job to make me cool \u2026\u201d<\/p>\nPhotography: Rankin
\nWords: Matt Mueller
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\nThis article first appeared in<\/em> Wonderland #26, April\/May 2011<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ben Barnes was Narnia‘s swashbuckling hearthrob. But in new film Killing Bono he’s laying down his sword.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3632],"tags":[306,50,304,310,79,307,105],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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