Voice of Paddington Ben Whishaw talks Paddington in Peru to Simon Mayo

Actor Ben Whishaw joined Simon Mayo on his Greatest Hits Radio Drivetime Show yesterday to talk about voicing Paddington bear for Paddington in Peru.

Ben is the voice behind everyone’s favourite bear in the third in the film series. He shared some of the behind-the-scenes secrets when it comes to working on the hit movies.

“You’ve got the script on a music stand, the film on a big screen but – at least when we begin – it’s at the very rough early stage of being edited so there’s no bear.”

He revealed that sometimes there’s a sketch, that doesn’t move, and sometimes there’s a tennis ball in place of Paddington.

“I wear a camera on my head that films my face and then you just have a crack at it,” he explained. “It’s a stab in the dark to begin with, you have no idea really what you’re doing, because there is no Paddington at that point.

“It takes a long time the whole process – from start to finish it’s a year, not every day obviously, or even every week, but it takes a year because it’s so enormously complex to animate the bear,” he added.

Unlike the rest of the cast who filmed on location Ben didn’t get to go to South America: “I did not leave Lexington Street where the post-production place is,” he told Simon. “I was just in the basement there the whole time. I would have liked [to have gone to Peru] but it was never even an option!”

Perhaps the biggest shock in the interview was when Whishaw, revealed he’s not a marmalade lover: “It is me making the noise when you hear when you see Paddington eating marmalade sandwiches [on screen] but I really can’t stand marmalade, it doesn’t agree with me” So, what you hear is me eating bread or sometimes I munch on fruit or even my own hand!!”

You can isten back to the conversation at greatesthitsradio.co.uk or on the free Rayo app.