Ben Barnes and Orlando Wells
in The History Boys
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Ben Barnes has left the National’s West End production of The History Boys at Wyndham’s Theatre, prompting an unscheduled cast change. Barnes, who had been playing the key role of schoolboy Dakin, departed the production early and has been replaced temporarily by Jamie King. King previously appeared as Dakin on a national tour of the Alan Bennett play.
According to a National Theatre spokesperson, “Ben Barnes has decided to leave The History Boys early, before his contract is finished. It is something we are taking very seriously. He has accepted an offer to be in a children’s Disney film and we have had to fly Jamie King back at extremely short notice this week.”
[AD]Barnes is reported to have departed the production last week, after being offered the title role in The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the sequel to the highly successful movie The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. The National replaced him by flying Jamie King back from Los Angeles, where King had been filming a TV docudrama, The Tudors.
King, who trained at LAMDA, is due to play the role for a month, with the exact dates yet to be confirmed. His previous theatre work includes Romeo and Juliet at Liverpool Playhouse and Culpability on the Edinburgh Fringe. His television credits include Casualty, Midsomer Murders, Bad Girls and Shades. He has also appeared in the films Vampire Video Diary, The River King and Tristan and Isolde.