Skandar Keynes

Alexander Amin Casper Keynes (/ˈkeɪnz/; born 5 September 1991), known as Skandar Keynes, is an English political adviser and former actor. Best known for starring as Edmund Pevensie in the Chronicles of Narnia film series since 2005,[3] he appeared in all three instalments, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, and most recently The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which was released on 10 December 2010.[4]
== Early life ==
Keynes was born in Camden, London. His mother is Zelfa Hourani and his father is author Randal Keynes. He has an older sister, Soumaya Anne Keynes (born August 1989), who has appeared in various productions for BBC Radio 4 and now works as an economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies.[5]
=== Ancestry ===
On his father's side, Keynes is of English descent, and is the grandson of physiologist Richard Keynes, the nephew of two Cambridge professors, the historian Simon Keynes, and the neuroscientist Roger Keynes, the cousin of Catholic writer and apologist Laura Keynes,[6] and the great-great-nephew of economist John Maynard Keynes.[7][8] His great-great-great-grandfather was naturalist Charles Darwin. Keynes' great-grandparents were Nobel Prize laureate Edgar Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian and Hester Adrian, Baroness Adrian.[9]
On his mother's side, Keynes is of Lebanese, Persian and Turkish descent.[10](The nickname Skandar is Pashto[11] for the Greek name "Alexander", Pashto being an Iranic language like Persian, or is short for "Iskandar," an Arabic variant.[12]) Lebanese nationality law states that citizenship is passed on patrilineally, so Keynes is legally a foreigner in the country he considers his second home.[13] His maternal grandparents were Furugh Afnan and Cecil Fadlo Hourani, who was an advisor to the late Tunisian president Habib Bourguiba. The Hourani family were immigrants to Manchester from Marjeyoun in southern Lebanon. Cecil's two brothers were Albert, a major historian of the Middle East, and George, philosopher, historian, and classicist.[citation needed] Furugh Afnan was the great-granddaughter of Bahá'u'lláh, founder of the Bahá'í Faith, making Skandar a great great great grandson of Baha'u'llah.[14]
== Career ==
Keynes auditioned for the role of Edmund Pevensie in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at the same time as he auditioned for the role of Simon Brown in Nanny McPhee, winning the former while losing the latter to Thomas Sangster. His voice changed, due to puberty, during the filming of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,[15] so the director used his sister Soumaya to voice some of his lines in the movie.[16]
He reprised his role as Edmund in Prince Caspian, released 16 May 2008. Keynes said he enjoyed the action-oriented stuntwork in the film but bruised his heel during a stunt with a horse. When he later had to run in the same scene, he did so while on pain medication and worried it was noticeable.[17]
He starred again as Edmund in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the third installment of The Chronicles of Narnia film series. Filming began in July 2009, and finished in December of the same year. The film was released on 10 December 2010 in Britain and the US. In preparation for this film, Keynes studied to earn his Professional Association of Diving Instructors license for underwater scenes.[18]
Keynes contributed his voice in 2014 to the audio project, In Freedom's Cause as Sir Allan Kerr, which would be the final project of his official acting career.
In 2016, Keynes announced that he is no longer pursuing a career in acting[19]and was now a parliamentary adviser to Crispin Blunt, MP.[20]
== Personal life ==
Keynes attended the Anna Scher Theatre School from 2000 to 2005, having attended Thornhill Primary School from 1996–2002. He attended the all-boys City of London School from 2005. There he wrote as a film critic for the review section of The Citizen, the City of London School weekly school newspaper. He sat his GCSEs in May and June 2008 and started Sixth Form and his first year of his A-level studies the following September. He studied biology, chemistry, maths, further maths and history at A-level.[21] In October 2010, he began his degree in Arabic and Middle Eastern History at Pembroke College, Cambridge. He was listed as one of Business Insider's "16 Incredibly Impressive Students At Cambridge University."[22] Keynes received his degree in Middle Eastern Studies in 2014.[19]
He and his family have visited Marjeyoun since he was a child. "We've been coming every year to Lebanon and visiting Marjeyoun despite the political situation. I was here in 1996 during Operation Grapes of Wrath. I was four at the time and I had no concept that it was war," Keynes told a reporter. "I remember when the gravity of the situation dawned on me. It was during the 2006 July war, I was 14 then... but it didn't really shake my view of Lebanon as effectively a second home, a place where I come to and I have family."[13] Keynes explains that he is cognizant of the political situation:
== Filmography ==
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
2001	Queen Victoria Died in 1901 and is Still Alive Today 	Waif 	TV documentary
2003	Ferrari 	Enzo Ferrariat 8 years old	TV film
2005	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	Edmund Pevensie 	
2008	The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 	Edmund Pevensie 	
2008	The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian T4 Film Special 	Edmund Pevensie 	Behind-the-scenes TV programme (23 min.)
2010	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader 	Edmund Pevensie 	
2014	The Extraordinary Adventures of G.A. Henty: In Freedom's Cause	Sir Allan Kerr 	Audio Drama
== Awards and nominations ==
=== Young Artist Awards ===
Year	Nominated work 	Category 	Result 	Ref.
2009	The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 	Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actor	Nominated	[23]
2009	The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian 	Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Ensemble Cast	Won 	[23]
2011	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader	Best Performance in a Feature Film – Young Ensemble Cast	Nominated	[24]
=== CAMIE Awards ===
Year	Nominated work 	Category	Result	Ref.
2006	The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe	N/A 	Won 	[25]