Lord of the Rings fans are finally returning to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien with the upcoming Prime Video series The Rings of Power. Set in the Second Age of Middle-earth, which takes place mostly after the events of The Silmarillion, this new epic adventure chronicles the rise of Sauron and the forging of the Rings which are so heavily featured in Peter Jackson's beloved trilogy. The Second Age is a transition period, in which Elves and Dwarves no longer rule Middle-earth as they once did. Men, meanwhile, have begun to flourish on the isle of Númenor - beginning a powerful line of which Aragorn is a direct descendant.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power naturally has an expansive cast, covering all the races and locations important to telling the history of Middle-earth. Furthermore, the series mixes canon characters who have already appeared in the books and films along with original creations from the minds of the executive producers (including The Sopranos' Jason Cahill and Stranger Things' Justin Doble). Morfydd Clark portrays a young Galadriel, Nazanin Boniadi Nazanin Boniadi plays Bronwyn, Benjamin Walker is High King Gil-galad, Robert Aramayo portrays Elrond, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson plays Queen Regent Míriel - among many more stellar actors and diverse characters.
While at San Diego Comic-Con, Screen Rant spoke to several members of the cast of The Rings of Power to learn how they stepped into the world of J.R.R. Tolkien, what was most different from the books and films, and how much they could divulge about their characters' journeys. Watch the videos below and read the selected quotes to learn more:
With a new character such as yourself, what was your way into her?
Nazanin Boniadi (who plays Bronwyn): My way in was the films 20 years ago. I love Tolkien; I fell in love with Tolkien because of the films. I'm a huge admirer of Peter Jackson and his skills and his craftsmanship, and the artistry. I'm in all of the trilogy. But this is now 20 years later, and we get to go into it with fresh eyes and an open heart hopefully.
I think the beauty of my character is that she's very much grounded in the world, but also she's not canon. So, I got to play; I got to create her from scratch with the beautiful words written by JD [Justin Doble], Patrick [McKay] and the writers.
There are many beautiful words in different languages in Tolkien. Did you get to pick up any?
Nazanin Boniadi: I think we'd have to wait and see. I will say, though, there is a slew of accents. Our dialect coach is just a huge talent - not only in dialect, but also she speaks Elvish, so that was very handy. And also she's just a Tolkien buff.
We're in the Second Age, which is something we haven't really gotten to see before. What was the most surprising or exciting thing for you?
Nazanin Boniadi: I think it’s a healthy balance of old and new. Watching these beloved, canon characters merge and coexist with our characters - the new ones created from scratch through JD and Patrick's brilliant minds. I think it's so original and beautiful and great. I can't even put it into words.
We just got the good fortune of watching the first three episodes a few days ago, and my mind is blown even having gone through this journey. Never in my wildest dreams that I think it would be that good. Not to hype up anybody's expectations, but I'm very excited to share it with the world.
Can you talk about your character and what you knew about him at the start?
Benjamin Walker (who plays High King Gil-galad): I knew pretty much what everyone knew, which was, "That's the guy from that song that Sam sings." Probably the most fun aspect of this job has been doing the research and getting to re-read all the texts.
The Second Age is something that we haven't gotten to see that much of. How heavy is the head that wears the crown in this age?
Benjamin Walker: Gil-galad is thousands of years old, and he has to wrestle with this question. When you've seen everyone you know and love die over and over again, how do you muster the strength to have hope? And he does. Tolkien understood the inevitability of the resurrection of evil, and Gil-galad in particular is constantly vigilant. But that's the price of peace: vigilance. There's your television conflict right there. It writes itself.
What are you most excited for fans to see from the series?
Benjamin Walker: I really like this group of people. I enjoy watching as a fan, but I also enjoyed watching the trailer today and seeing my friends do great work. That's exciting. There's a lot of new faces in it, and new faces on old faces. Because I like them, I want everyone to celebrate them as much as I think they should be celebrated.
When you step into the show for the first time, what is your way into your character?
Ema Horvath (who plays Eärien): Relationships? I'm in a very famous family. Working on those relationships with Maxim and Lloyd that was the heart of my prep.
Stepping into the Second Age, which we haven't really gotten to see before, what was the most surprising or interesting thing for you?
Ema Horvath: Just how opulent it is. You watch the movies, and everything is kind of apocalyptic almost. Especially for my character, who is on Númenor. It's the most glorious, beautiful, vibrant, colorful thing in comparison to what we've seen before.
What can you tease about your journey this season?
Ema Horvath: Let's just say she's a little overlooked by her father, which makes her a little susceptible to some other... End quote
One of my favorite things about Lord of the Rings and Tolkien is the different languages. What was that like for you?
Ema Horvath: We needed a new alphabet for Númenor, because no one's ever seen it. Daniel Reeve, who created Bilbo Baggins' handwriting, created that. And my character writes and draws quite a bit, so I was one of the lucky ones who got to learn how to write in it.
What were the things that surprised you most about Isildur and his story?
Maxim Baldry (who plays Isildur): He's grieving in season 1; he's lost his mother. I actually didn't realize that he was quite vulnerable. I think his relationship to his father is strained, because there's things unsaid between them. I don't think there's good communication; comms are down.
But there's a deep-rooted connection to himself that he knows he wants to find out there. He doesn't quite know what it is, but he's trying to do the right thing to fulfill his father's dream. He's also understanding that maybe there's something else out there for him.
What can you tell us about Aragorn's great, great, great, great, great, great-grandfather?
Lloyd Owen: Yes, 38th great-grandfather, I think. Elendil, a great, super-capable mariner who's widowed. He's trying to bring up these three adult children who are struggling with their own grief, so it's caused a bit of turbulence in the family.
The turbulence in the family is also reflected in where Númenor is at this moment in time. This extraordinary island nation was gifted to the men by the Valar and the Elves for their loyalty in the First Age against Morgoth. But just as we see, in the beginning of this series, it's on a bit a knife edge between a more nationalist view of Númenor - the people who want to live forever, like the elves, who are called the King's Men - and those who are more loyal to the Elves - called the faithful.
Elendil is right in between those two things. Pragmatically, he needs to be part of the new Númenor. But his heart is Elvish, and his heart is Faithful. So, he's got a real battle between his head and his heart.
We're hopefully going to get to hear some new Tolkien languages. Have you been brushing up?
Lloyd Owen: Yes, there are quite a few moments where I have to speak. It was wonderful. Having done a film over in Bollywood a few years ago, and having to do a lot of scenes in Urdu, it was another moment where I was presented with a whole new set of letters and words and structure. It's been glorious to speak it - as it was glorious to speak Urdu, it's glorious to speak Elvish because of the rhythm.
I'm Welsh by background, so there's a lot of similarity in there. But there's a scene where I speak to Galadriel, and there's just one little word that I say to her - which is actually in the Lord the Rings movies, but it's "Namárië." There's something about the set of sounds in there that just always [raises] a few hairs on the back of the neck.
What was your way into this character? Though you know much more than we do.
Daniel Weyman (who plays “The Stranger”): They were pretty clear at the beginning that what they were bringing me was a character who had, at his core, a really deep and primal purpose. He had a need to accomplish something; he had a desire to accomplish this thing. Once I began to tap into that, and feel that deep in the core, then other things flowed out of that.
I think, for me, that was really importan. Whether that was costume, or hair and makeup, or dialect and movement - all those things flowed from that very primal, guttural sense of, "I know what I need to do here. I know what I'm here for." And that's a joy to have as an actor, because there are some characters who never really know what their purpose is. They never really know what their desires are.
As much as we don't know about him, I think what we're going to do - if we can stay with him - is to see that the way that he impacts communities around him is going to be dramatic. We are going to learn and learn and learn, and finding out what exactly is going on might not be so quick.
Harfoots are the predecessors to Hobbits. What was it like to discover those early origins that was most surprising or fascinating to you?
Sara Zwangobani (who plays Marigold Brandyfoot): It actually was both of those things: surprising and fascinating. I read Tolkien from a young age, and I reread and loved the movies. To see what they had imagined for this early world was so interesting and made such sense, because they didn't just pull it out of the air. They thought so hard about it, and we talked so much about it. I've got a journal with reams and reams and reams of notes and research on this world that we created. So, I think it was both surprising, fascinating, and joyous. I think that people will really enjoy the Harfoot world; I really do.
You mentioned relating as a mother to your character. What can you say about the Brandyfoot family's journey this season?
Sara Zwangobani: These questions are so tricky. What can I say? They have lived a way of life for many generations. They expected that way of life to continue, and then something happens that upsets the balance of that. Part of the struggle is that there's some people in my family who are really ready to embrace the new, and there are some people like Marigold, who are just trying to protect what we have. And I think that's where the challenges lie.
LOTR: The Rings of Power Synopsis
Epic drama set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.
Check out our interviews with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power cast:
- Morfydd Clark, Charlie Vickers & Tyroe Muhafidin
- Robert Aramayo, Sara Zwangobani, Cynthia Addai-Robinson & Daniel Weyman
- Markella Kavenagh & Megan Richards
- Cynthia Addai-Robinson & Trystan Gavelle
- Maxim Baldry & Lloyd Owen
- Ismael Cruz Córdova & Nazanin Boniadi
- Benjamin Walker