The “His Dark Materials” adaptation coming to HBO has found its Iorek Byrnison.
Joe Tandberg, whose credits include “The Innocents” on Netflix, will voice the famous armored bear. Byrnison comes from the frozen wilderness of the North and is both a skilled metal worker and a fierce warrior.
Also joining the voice cast of the fantasy series based on the Philip Pullman novels are Detective Hercule Poirot himself David Suchet as Kaisa, the gyrfalcon daemon to the witch Serafina Pekkala (Ruta Gedmintas), American comedian Cristela Alonzo, who will voice Lee Scoresby’s (Lin-Manuel Miranda) arctic hare daemon Hester, and Kit Connor (young Elton John in “Rocketman”) who will voice the main character Lyra Belacqua’s (Dafne Keen) unsettled daemon Pantalaimon.
It was previously announced that “Peaky Blinders” star Helen McCrory is voicing Lord Asriel’s (James McAvoy) snow leopard daemon, and the network has also revealed that Mrs Coulter’s (Ruth Wilson) mysterious Golden Monkey daemon, who doesn’t speak or have a name, will be given animal noises and vocal characteristics by Brian Fisher. Fisher also serves as the lead puppeteer and CFX coordinator on the series.
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Earlier this month, “Fleabag” breakout Andrew Scott was announced as joining the series’ second season as Colonel John Parry.
“His Dark Materials” centers around Lyra, a seemingly ordinary but brave young woman from another world. Her search for a kidnapped friend uncovers a sinister plot involving stolen children and becomes a quest to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust.
The original “His Dark Materials” trilogy is comprised of “The Golden Compass” (also known as “Northern Lights”), “The Subtle Knife” and “The Amber Spyglass.” Pullman has also written a prequel, “La Belle Sauvage,” and has embarked on a new book that picks up where the trilogy left off, so there is plenty of content meat on the bone should the BBC and HBO want to make “His Dark Materials” a multi-series affair. The British broadcaster has already committed to an eight-episode second outing, before the first season even airs.