Paddington in ‘much more in a position of jeopardy and risk’ as he braves the jungles of Peru in third film

Ten years since we fell in love with Ben Whishaw’s portrayal of the little brown bear who’s far from home in Paul King’s Paddington, the third instalment in Paddington’s story is seeing him travel, once more, to the other side of the world.

In Paddington in Peru, which sees Dougal Wilson mark his feature film directing debut, taking the baton from King, the little bear is going back to the jungle of Peru to reconnect with Aunt Lucy at the Home for Retired Bears. Of course, he’s bringing the Browns – Mr Brown, played by Hugh Bonneville, Mrs Brown, played by Emily Mortimer, Judy Brown, played by Madeleine Harris, and Jonathan Brown, played by Samuel Joslin – and the ever-resourceful Mrs Bird, played by Julie Walters, along for the ride.

However, when Paddington and the Brown family arrive after their long journey, the Reverend Mother in charge of the retirement home, played by Olivia Colman, has some terrible news. Aunt Lucy is missing.

“After the success of the first two films, you couldn’t help but feel trepidation about what the next film might involve,” says This Is Going To Hurt star and voice of Paddington, Ben Whishaw, 44.

“There is also a sense of pressure to not repeat the same thing. But I thought the concept was great because it is much more of an adventure than the other films. Paddington is much more in a position of jeopardy and risk.

“I thought it was very exciting, very funny, and moving too, so I was super excited by it.”

Desperate to find out where Aunt Lucy has got to, Paddington and the Browns set off on an epic journey across the Peruvian jungle. Along the way, they meet charming riverboat captain Hunter, played by Antonio Banderas, and his daughter Gina, and uncover hidden treasures of Amazonian history – and hidden treasures from Paddington’s own past, too.

“Formerly, Paddington’s been at Windsor Gardens in the Browns’ home, which is his home. But this film shows us the opposite, which is the Browns going out into the wild, into the jungle, and into the unknown,” says Whishaw, who’s also known for playing Q in the James Bond films Skyfall, Spectre and No Time To Die.

“Each character faces something about themselves on this journey, and something about their place within the family. There’s something very moving about how they’re brought closer together through this endeavour.”

“It was lovely, having had the sort of characteristics that we explored in the first two films, to see Mr Brown now being forced to leave his comfort zone and embrace the risk – or risk losing his job,” agrees Downton Abbey star Bonneville, 60.

“So when he goes to South America, he has to confront various phobias – not least the purple-kneed tarantula – and I think the journey that the family goes on will resonate with audiences, because there’s the potential for the empty nest, and that this journey actually brings the family back together in some way, but also asks the question, what is home?”

As Bonneville alludes to, the Brown parents are also confronting a very relatable peril: their children are getting older, almost ready to fly the nest, and they’re having to reckon with how their family dynamic will now change.

It’s something that Mary Poppins Returns star Emily Mortimer, who has the “huge honour” of stepping into Sally Hawkins’ shoes as Mrs Brown for this film, relates to.

“Well, I have, myself, been going through, of late, a similar situation with my own children, because they’re about the age of the Brown kids, and I recognise very much that feeling of panic that starts to seep in as your children find their independence and inevitably just start to find you slightly irritating and kind of boring and want to forge their way in the world,” says Mortimer, 53.

“And (I) also recognise the urge to sort of force everybody back together again, and the slightly knee-jerk decision to take everybody on a family trip to Peru felt like something very familiar to me.

“I gate-crashed my now 21-year-old son’s gap year in Italy, and brought my entire extended family to Italy… he was very polite and tolerant, but by the end of it, I realised I had to kind of cease and desist! So yeah, it all felt very familiar to me, and I could really relate.”

Also joining the cast for this adventure are the decorated actress Olivia Colman, who recently starred in Paul King’s Wonka, and the beloved Zorro and Puss In Boots actor Antonio Banderas.

Colman, 50, says that joining the franchise was “so exciting for me”.

“I adore Paddington and knew it would be fun. And, as an added bonus, most of my scenes are with Julie Walters (Mrs Bird), and also my first day ever was with Antonio Banderas.

“So I was a competition winner all the way through. I was very happy.”

Colman threatens to steal the show towards the start of the film with a glorious song-and-dance number in which she twirls, Sound Of Music-style, against an Andes backdrop with the Reverend Mother’s fellow nuns.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but my skirt is so long it hides the fact that I can’t multitask,” jokes Colman, coyly.

“In rehearsals, I could sort of forget the mouth bit, but the feet were okay. But then when they went: ‘No, you have to sing!’, then the feet went all over the place!”

For Spanish actor Banderas, 64, joining the Paddington world meant “having the opportunity to receive some lessons about who Paddington is and how he represents this country, and a way of understanding the personality of the country, in a way.

“It was a beautiful experience.”

“It was not until I received the script that I actually understood the dimension of the character, and then I saw the first and the second movie, and then I understood,” adds Banderas of delving into the world of Paddington.

“The behaviour of the people that are carrying the franchise, the producers, the love that they just give to everything that they do, and how careful they are with every move in there – when you see people working with careful detail, you understand that they really, really care very much about the character. So I gave that importance to what I was doing.”

l Paddington In Peru comes to UK cinemas on Friday, November 8.