Ben Barnes

If you haven't seen the second film in The Chronicles of Narnia series yet, we think Ben Barnes will have caught your eye regardless. Staring out at you from the movie poster in a magazine or a billboard he's the one in the full armour with the smouldering look. Just thinking about it is causing us to think about planning a quick detour to the local cinema.

If you're racking your brain trying to think if you've seen him before, that's because he's a relative newbie on the Hollywood scene. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian has shoved him into the spotlight and it seems he's meant to stay there — rumour has it he has signed on for two sequels already.

Not one who can claim a small-town upbringing, Ben was born and raised in London. Even though he was from one of the largest and most creative cities in the world, he was never one to blend into the crowd. Attending high school at King's College School in Wimbledon, one of the country's most selective schools, Ben continued on to London's Kingston University studying English and drama.

Some of his favourite pastimes include cooking and finding new movies and music. He claims he makes a killer Sunday roast with all the trimmings, which is pretty impressive! For the last year-and-a-half , however, the filming and promotion of Prince Caspian has taken him out of his comfort zone and all over the world, including shooting on location in places such as the Czech Republic and New Zealand. It was in New Zealand that he spent his time learning how to swordfight and exploring the local area when he wasn't needed on the set.

One thing he is not fond of is horse riding, which was a requirement to play the part of Prince Caspian. He was so keen for the role that he told the studio that he was a natural on horseback when really he had been on a horse only once before in his life! He then had to take six- to seven-hour-long training sessions with all of the other experienced riders. The lessons, were as he put it, "quite painful".

Want to see more of Ben? Check out his hot pics gallery.

Useless facts

• His favourite movie is This is Spinal Tap.
• He is currently single.
• He was in a boy band for "approximately four-and-a-half minutes". Those few minutes included, however, an entry into the Eurovision song contest. You can even find it on YouTube; just search for Eurovision and Hyrise, the name of the band!
• Keep an eye out for Ben in October — he is coming back to New Zealand to start filming the third Narnia movie, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

By Kylie Boyd