He has been one of England's favorite and most important refugees for two-thirds of a century. Now Paddington Bear, officially known as Paddington Brown, has been granted a British passport.
The co-producer of Paddington's latest film said the Home Office had given the Peruvian-born fictional character a document, listing for completeness the official observation that he was actually a bear.
“We wrote to the Home Office asking if we could get a copy and they actually provided Paddington with an official passport – there is only one of these,” Rob Silva told the Radio Times.
He took out the document, with a photo of Paddington inside, and added: “You wouldn't think the Home Office would have a sense of humour, but according to official observations, they have labeled him a bear.”
Ben Whishaw, who voiced the new British character Paddington in the Peruvian film Passport, was actually a model document, which was revealed to be unnecessary during production, as he spent the entire show in an underground studio in central London.
And he never met any of his co-stars. “I never met Antonio [Banderas] or olivia [Colman] For this movie, but I hope to do it at some point because I've seen his performances and I've really enjoyed them. In Paddington 2, I never saw Hugh Grant,” he told Radio Times.
And he added: “I would have liked to have gone to Peru and Colombia, but I didn't. I was in a basement in Soho the whole time.
When asked about the secret of Paddington's voice, Whishaw told the magazine: “I don't want to think about it. I don't know what I'm doing when I do it. It is no different from my own voice; It's not that he talks, but somehow it's different.
“Obviously, he says Paddington-style things and then it's trial and error. “It's really just the smallest breaths and the smallest gestures and what works with animation.”
Although some actors claim that the character has a lot of people, Whishaw admits that he does not like the jam that Paddington's favorite sandwiches are made with. “It doesn't suit me very well, but I'm a big Marmite lover. Marmite with lurbak butter on toast is, for me, heaven,” he said.
In the latest film, the third in the franchise, the goofy-haired bear travels to his home country to visit his Aunt Lucy. But a nun who plays the guitar and runs a home for retired bears learns that her aunt has disappeared during a scientific mission.
Olivia Colman plays the nun, while Antonio Banderas plays a sailor who helps them in their quest to find her.
There were difficult scenes when the filmmakers chose Colombia as the segment's filming location instead of Peru. New legislation to revive Peru's film industry was proposed by right-wing lawmaker Adriana Tudela, who cited a “lack of incentives and a large number of national and local bureaucratic barriers to filming in Peru” as key factors behind the decision.
