Ben Kingsley has revealed that it took a bit of time to find the right voice for Bagheera in the new adaptation of The Jungle Book.
Ben Kingsley
Kingsley is just one name on a great cast for The Jungle Book, which sees Jon Favreau back in the director's chair for the first time since he enjoyed success with Chef.
The British actor is set to bring the character of Bagheera to life and reveals there was a process to go through to find the character's voice. Initially, he and Favreau toyed with the idea of an Indian accent before setting on British.
Speaking to Yahoo! the Oscar winning actor said: "I offered an Indian accent to Jon for my Bagheera, and we debated it, and then we thought, 'No - actually, it's more British,' and then I leaned towards a military Brit to have authority, discipline, command, and then underneath that of course, tremendous loyalty and affection."
The Jungle Book is based on the iconic story by Rudyard Kipling but is a live action remake of the 1967 animated film of the same name. This is the latest of the Disney movies to be given a live action makeover and will follow in the footsteps of Maleficent and Cinderella in recent years.
Kingsley is part of an all star cast as Bill Murray, Idris Elba, Scarlett Johansson, and Christopher Walken will bring the characters of Baloo, Shere Khan, Kaa, and King Louie to life. We are also going to be introduced to the acting talents of Neel Sethi, who will play Mowgli.
As for Kingsley, we are going to be seeing him back on the big screen later this year with Life, a movie that looks at the friendship between Life Magazine photographer Dennis Stock and acting icon James Dean. Kingsley is set to take on the role of Jack Warner in the film, which is directed by Anton Corbijn.
Kingsley has also finished work on The Walk - which is being tipped as a possible Oscar contender - and Collide.
Filming on The Jungle Book is still underway and the film will be released 15th April 2016.
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