Magdalen's leading lady

A short time ago she was in Oxford cramming for her university exams in English.

But after enjoying end-of-term celebrations, she headed for one of the biggest film premieres held in Britain, as one of the young stars of Prince Caspian.

Thousands turned out last Thursday at the London screening of Prince Caspian, the second of C.S. Lewis's seven Narnia chronicles to be adapted by Disney.

The event featured the UK's biggest ever red carpet, stretching across the Peninsula Square, outside the 02 Arena.

The film marks the end of five years' hard work for Anna, who plays Susan, the heroine of the Narnia stories. The latest film involved a shoot in New Zealand, Poland, Slovenia and Czech Republic before began studying in Oxford.

Fittingly, she is studying at Magdalen College, where C.S. Lewis was a fellow between 1925 and 1954.

Anna, 19, has managed to combine her studies with her acting since arriving at Magdalen. Shortly before her exams she appeared in the controversial Spring Awakening at the Oxford Playhouse.

Last year, she won the Cuppers Prize for best supporting actress in the student production Five Kinds of Silence and also played Lady Macbeth at the OFS Studio.

Anna, the grand-daughter of retired High Court judge Sir Oliver Popplewell, said: "There's been a lot of juggling going on. But that's a conscious decision. No one has forced me to work, study and play at the same time.

"Let's just say that during term time I don't get a lot of sleep. I got a few funny looks during lectures when I first arrived. But it had been a while since The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe came out and most people were quite normal about it. And anyway, there are so many extraordinary people in Oxford doing extraordinary things, that I don't stand out at all."

Speaking before the premiere, she said: "People ask me if it's impossible for me to have an ordinary existence now. But I don't lead my life any differently from how I would otherwise. I don't have problems walking down the street. So I think it's been a brilliant experience making these films and it has only enriched my life."

Her character Susan does not appear in the next Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which goes into production in the summer.

So will Anna regret not being able to return to the magical world created by Disney?

She said: "I'll certainly be sad when it's over. But I am happy to go back to normal life, too. I mean, I'm a bit of a geek and I loved school, doing school plays and hanging out with my friends. And I am looking forward to the university experience."

She had to be given time off from filming by the director to fly to her school ball in London from Prague.

"He changed the shots around and got me on a plane back to London," she recalled. "I turned up in my jeans and T-shirt and got changed in the bathroom and had time for about two dances before I had to run around and go back."

Filming Prince Caspian certainly ensured that she came to Oxford in peak physical condition.

"In the book the girls don't fight in the battles and that's been changed in this movie," said Anna, whose mother is a doctor at Great Ormond Street Hospital.

"I get to use a bow and arrow in the fights and also I've got to do lots of horse riding, which is great. I had done a bit of riding before, but not very much.

"To have the opportunity to train with these world-class riders and practise on these beautiful Friesian horses whenever I wanted was such an incredible opportunity."

In a way, like Susan, Anna says she has ended up doing a lot of her growing up in Narnia.

"In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the Pevensies had this immense challenge of going from being children to being kings and queens.

"In Prince Caspian, they've been through the opposite experience back in the real world, of trying to go from kings and queens back to schoolchildren. Susan, for example, is very sceptical about everything when she comes back to Narnia because just when she got to grips with the idea of this magical world at the end of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, she was suddenly thrown back into reality. Her faith has been shattered and it's hard to get it back."

It's a good bet that Anna will have altogether less trouble readjusting from the 02's red carpet to the quads and lecture rooms of Magdalen, where Narnia was born.