by Watch: Peter Pan and Wendy stars discuss growing up
With the new Disney+ film Peter Pan and Wendy, life imitates art, as the teenage actor who plays the boy who wouldn’t want to grow up admitted he has mixed feelings about becoming an adult.
Alexander Molony, 17, who plays Pan in this new live-action remake, says his TV acting career – and working on this latest version of JM Barrie’s favorite movie – makes him feel he doesn’t “want to leave this adventure and this fun behind.”
“It’s a bit daunting,” he tells Yahoo UK.
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“When you’re an adult, you have an expectation that you don’t have as much fun as when you were a kid, which we definitely embraced during filming—the amount of fun we had.”
The film is directed by David Lowery, who also helmed 2016’s Pete’s Dragon, one of Disney’s first live action remakes of their animated classics. The studio’s original Peter Pan celebrates its 70th anniversary this year.
And while Moloney’s feelings about growing up are similar to Peter Pan’s, those of his co-star Ever Anderson, who plays Wendy, are close to her character’s.
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“I’m really excited to be growing up, Wendy-style!” she said. “I’ve accepted that my childhood is there in a little box and now I’m ready to open a new one and begin that journey.”
Lowery’s new take on the story follows the beloved story of Wendy and her little brothers flying to Neverland with Peter, where they meet the Lost Boys, the mischievous fairy Tinkerbell and the evil Captain Hook, played in the film by Jude Law. . But the film also reveals how Peter and Hook first met.
As Anderson explained, “I think fans will immediately recognize the characters they grew up knowing and loving, but this time their back stories are fleshed out for a new generation to enjoy.”
The film follows the tradition of showing Peter and Wendy taking flight, which thrilled both young actors, even though they never left the set for those scenes.
“Flying to set with huge fans blowing wind in your face felt so realistic,” Molony recalled. “I wish I could fly myself,” Anderson added. “But if that’s the best I can do, then fine.”
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The daughter of actor Milla Jovovich and director Paul WS Anderson, 15-year-old Ever Anderson was previously seen as young Natasha Romanoff in Black Widow (2021). Alexander Molony is a regular on the sitcom The Reluctant Landlord, where he starred opposite Romesh Ranganathan, and also worked with Mckenna Grace last year on the TV movie The Bad Seed Returns.
Peter Pan And Wendy is Disney’s first live action reworking of an animated classic of 2023 and is followed in late May by director Rob Marshall’s version of The Little Mermaid, which will be shown in theaters. Other films in the series include Kenneth Branagh’s Cinderella (2015), Jon Favreau’s The Jungle Book (2016), Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin (2019) and last year’s Pinocchio, directed by Robert Zemeckis.
Peter Pan and Wendy will begin streaming April 28, 2023, only on Disney+.
