Summary

In Paddington in Peru, the Browns embark on a journey through Peru to find Aunt Lucy, encountering treasure hunters and jungle spirits.

In this interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, Emily Mortimer and Hugh Bonneville discuss the universality of kindness through Paddington, representing tolerance and inclusivity.

They also discuss shooting challenging but fun scenes with practical and analog techniques used for action sequences.

As important as Paddington Bear is as a character—falling into hijinks, chowing down on marmalade—it’s truly his relationship with his adoptive family, the Browns, that forms the emotional core of the Paddington film series. His mother Mary, played by Emily Moritmer, and his father Henry, played by Hugh Bonneville, are absolutely integral to the themes and sentiments of Paddington’s tale. Their understanding, sharing, and participation in Paddington’s adventures is the beating heart underlying every story. Now, the Browns set off on their biggest story yet in Paddington in Peru.
This third installment of the beloved Paddington series finds Paddington Bear and his family, the Browns traveling across the Atlantic at the request of our hero’s Aunt Lucy (voiced by Imelda Staunton). When the Browns learn from The Reverend Mother (Olivia Colman) that Aunt Lucy is missing, they embark on a massive journey through Peru to find Rumi Rock and Paddington Bear’s missing family. Along the way, they come across treasure hunters (Antonio Banderas), adding shipwrecks, jungle spirits, and gold to the exciting mix. The threequel co-stars Ben Whishaw (Mary Poppins Returns) as the voice of Paddington Bear, Jim Broadbent (Bridget Jones), and Julie Walters (Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again).
Ahead of the theatrical release, Mortimer and Bonneville chatted with Collider’s Steve Weintraub about the film and Paddington’s influence the world over. Together they discuss Paddington as a representation of tolerance and inclusivity, shooting wild action sequences, and the universality of kindness infused throughout this latest chapter of Paddington Bear. Check out the full conversation in the video above or in the transcript below.
Paddington Shares a Universal Message With Audiences

“Paddington represents tolerance and inclusivity.”

Image via StudioCanal

COLLIDER: Paddington is just so popular with so many people around the world. What do you think it is about the character that has resonated with so many people?
HUGH BONNEVILLE: Well, I think since the late 1950s, when Michael Bond created the first Paddington story, he’s given the world a character that we can all identify with because we’ve all been him. We’ve all been at a new school or a new a new town or a new country even, and have relied on others to show us the way and to reach out the hand of friendship. So, I think we all identify with that feeling of vulnerability. As an audience, we want to protect the bear.
For his part, he wants to he wants to fit in. He wants to do his best. He wants to contribute to society. The trouble is, he usually gets it wrong, and ends up with people being doused in water or marmalade, or a combination of the two, but the dial always resets to positive by the end. I think knowing that that is the world that we’re in, we feel safe going on these adventures with him, and I think that’s certainly true in the third film.
EMILY MORTIMER: That was so perfectly said. I definitely think that Paddington represents tolerance and inclusivity and, as he said, a sort of reaching out between people. Paddington is a stranger in the home of the Brown family in the first two films and in the first few books, and in the process of taking him in, they learn as much about themselves as they do about him, and vice versa. There’s this feeling of the richness and discovery that comes with getting to know people who are different from you. That seems like an incredibly important message for now, as much as for any time previously. It really feels great to be in this movie that has that message and has this character at the center of it at this particular moment in time. It’s a wonderful feeling.
I completely agree. It’s nice to watch a movie that is about being kind to one another.
MORTIMER: Yes, and the people that are going to come to the cinema to watch this film will be from every different group of society. You could have voted for anyone in the general election in America and still enjoy Paddington. You can be any age and still enjoy Paddington. That’s actually kind of a radical feat in this day and age to have made a movie that is as universal as this one.
The Practical Nature of ‘Paddington in Peru’ Was Like “Being a Kid Again”

“It was extremely challenging and also really fun.”

I love learning about the behind-the-scenes of the making of films or TV. What shot or sequence ended up being the most challenging to pull off?
BONNEVILLE: For me, there were several, but the one that popped into my head was when Paddington is strapped to the wheel of the boat, and it’s now come dislodged from its housing, and he is rolling up and down the deck. Jonathan and I are having to run away from it, and then he starts chasing us, and then we are running in the other direction. Anyway, it was quite a complicated sequence because you’ve got a boat that’s on a gimbal—spoiler alert, we weren’t actually on a river—and you’ve got the camera that’s trying to track the movement of this wheel as it goes up and down and we’re trying to imagine where this wheel is because it’s not actually present. So, there was a whole combination of factors. The movement of the boat, the movement of the camera, the movement of us, and an invisible wheel with a bear strapped to it.
That was all quite complex and you’re trying to get that in your head. We had a fantastic camera crew, as ever, led by Erik Wilson and Dougal’s masterly eye. It’s all to do with split-second precision timing for comedic rhythm as well as the technical stuff. There’s a whole load of factors that came into play. That was early on in the shoot and was quite fiddly and technical, but I think it’s come off well in the movie.

Related

Why We Need ‘Paddington 3’ Now More Than Ever

We have the marmalade sandwiches ready!

Definitely. Emily, what was your one shot?
MORTIMER: It’s interesting. Dougal Wilson, who directed the third film and didn’t do the first two, I think, has brought his own particular kind of vision to this movie and the mechanics of these action sequences. First of all, on that boat, the boat was the first one we shot, and then, later in the movie, towards the end of the movie, we shot that airplane, the crashing airplane being driven by a crazed nun, in the form of Olivia Colman. [Laughs] Again, we were on a kind of a gimbal, so we were in a studio, but it was very practical and kind of analog the way it was all shot, and each shot was meticulously planned by Dougal.
We were really rocking back and forth, and there was real wind, and it was all happening—branches falling against the windscreen, and the roof flying off, and having to hold onto Sam [Joslin] as he went out to do his thing. It was all happening and it was extremely challenging and also really fun. It was like being a kid again because, really, all you had to do is just scream your head off. They were memorable, those moments. They were really kind of exhausting but in a good way.
Paddington in Peru makes a splash in theaters on February 14.

Paddington in Peru

Release Date

February 14, 2025

Runtime

106 Minutes

Director

Dougal Wilson

Writers

Michael Bond, Mark Burton, Simon Farnaby