‘No one is born a villain’: Lion King prequel Mufasa shines new light on Scar’s origins

SINGAPORE – If you think you know the characters from the much-loved animated musical The Lion King (1994) and its 2019 CGI remake, the actors playing key roles in the new prequel would like to surprise you.

Taka, as the young lion is known before receiving the wound that leads to his later name and original antagonist Scar, is voiced by American actor Kelvin Harrison Jr in Mufasa: The Lion King, which opens in Singapore cinemas on Dec 19.

Set several years before the events of the photorealistically animated 2019 film, it follows the life of the titular character before he becomes King of the Pride Lands and the father of Simba.

Here, viewers will see that Mufasa’s adoptive brother Taka is rather different from the sinister sibling he eventually grows into.

“I think it’s a nice opportunity for people to pull back the curtain and reassess that original first interaction with Scar. I mean, no one’s born a villain,” says Harrison Jr, 30, at an online press conference with the film’s cast and director Barry Jenkins on Dec 10.

Harrison Jr, who performs his own songs in the film, believes Taka’s journey towards the dark side – like the poor choices many make – springs from the pain of betrayal and loss.

“Anybody who is angry is probably really hurt at some point. I like that everyone’s going to have this dialogue and maybe examine themselves a bit too,” he says.

Mufasa: The Lion King tells of Mufasa’s origins as an orphaned cub, discovered and saved by Taka, a prince of the Pride Lands. Mufasa (voiced by British actor Aaron Pierre) and Taka become inseparable and eventually encounter Timon the meerkat and Pumbaa the warthog. Comedians-actors Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen reprise their respective roles from the Jon Favreau-helmed 2019 remake.

The pair of lions also meet Sarabi (voiced by American actress Tiffany Boone), the lioness who will eventually become Queen of the Pride Lands and Simba’s mother.

Boone, 37, says her character, who appeared calm and regal in the 1994 and 2019 versions, will now reveal traits not previously seen.

The changes began with her audition. Later, Jenkins encouraged her to inject more of her personality into the role.

“I didn’t know I was auditioning for Sarabi. They had a different name for her, so I was like, ‘Who’s this cool chick who’s confident and a little sassy?’ I know a lot of times when we were recording, Barry would say, ‘Put in that sassiness. Put in that fire.’ And so, I think that’s just naturally in me,” says Boone.

Jenkins spoke of how it was his wife, Chinese-American film-maker Lulu Wang (The Farewell, 2019), who pointed out that returning writer Jeff Nathanson’s screenplay enriched characters previously left on the sidelines.

“The character Sarabi is a perfect example. When I first read the script – at my wife’s prompting – I realised there was such depth to these characters who had been on the periphery, but there just wasn’t space for their stories to be told fully,” he says.

In a separate interview with The Straits Times, Jenkins, 45, discussed his eagerness to reveal an unseen side of the Mufasa-Taka relationship. Before rivalry set in, there was genuine sibling love.

“Audiences will see how two individuals who truly love each other can grow apart, simply because of how they respond to the obstacles life puts before them. Taka and Mufasa start in almost the same place, but walk very, very different paths,” he says.

Jenkins’ coming-of-age drama Moonlight (2016), about the difficulties faced by a young, gay black man, won three Academy Awards, including for Best Picture. Jenkins himself won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, shared with Tarell Alvin McCraney, who wrote the semi-autobiographical play on which the screenplay is based. 

Jenkins said he was drawn to the Disney project because its themes of forging a “found family” – forming bonds with fellow outsiders – resonated with him.

As a child in Florida, the American film-maker was raised by Ms Creola Evans, whom he regards as a surrogate mother, after his father left the family before he was born and his mother struggled with drug addiction.

“If you’ve seen Moonlight, that’s the world I come from. I assumed that someone from that background could not walk the same path as Mufasa. But when I first read the script, I realised Mufasa also grew up with a found family, just as I did.”