While audiences remain divided on the fantasy series, The Rings of Power star Morfydd Clark reveals how younger Galadriel was informed by The Lord of the Rings' Cate Blanchett performances. Clark takes on the role of the character during the Second Age of Middle-earth's expansive, storied history. Galadriel is a central character in the Prime Video series as she grapples with the feeling that evil is on the rise and that the Dark Lord Sauron is gearing up to return.
In Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, fans of the franchise were given a glimpse of the unexplored past of one of Middle-earth's most powerful figures. Before becoming the Lady of Lothlórien that audiences are familiar with through Blanchett's portrayal across Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, Clark's younger Galadriel embarks on a quest to track down Sauron following the loss of her brother, Finrod, taking his quest on as her own despite the other Elves' disproval and traveling across the dangerous, monster-ridden seas to track down her enemy. While Galadriel's younger, more active, and determined self is a far cry from the leader from Jackson's film, Clark has revealed that she looked to Blanchett's portrayal to inform her own approach to the character.
In an interview with THR, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power star Morfydd Clark was asked if she had learned anything from Blanchett's portrayal that helped inform her on how she should approach playing Galadriel in the Prime Video series. The actress explained that Galadriel's serene presence during the events of the Third Age that Jackson's films explored was a key point of interest in how she approached the character. Clark elaborated by explaining that her Galadriel is a less composed, more stressed character in comparison and that at the time of the series, she doesn't foresee herself becoming the serene, calm leader that she eventually is. Check out Clark's response below.
I think that it was the serenity that she has in the Third Age. It was something really interesting for me to imagine my character not fully encompassing yet because I also feel that when any being human goes through a spate of feeling all over the place, you don’t feel that serenity is ever going to be in your grasp. So that serenity would be kind of a surprise to the character as well.
Clark previously defended The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's Galadriel and her more action-oriented storyline following the show's debut, in which she offered further insight into how she believes Galadriel became the character seen during the Third Age. She went on to explain that the wisdom and calm that Galadriel displayed during the Third Age is largely informed by the experiences of the journey she would embark upon in the Prime Video show that would cause her to grow. While The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's Galadriel may be different from how the character was previously explored on-screen, it is clear from Clark's defense that the series' younger character is approached in a way that would ultimately allow fans to see what specific events inform her later-life decisions.
With her tracking the figure who would shape much of Middle-earth's future conflicts, Galadriel's quest is one of the central pillars of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power's story. Alongside Clark's intensive training for the show's fight scenes, it is clear that the actress has placed much thought and care into not only how her character would act in the moment, but how it would inform her later life as seen in Jackson's films. While the Prime Video series cannot explicitly rely too heavily on aspects of the films due to legal and copyright complications, fans of the franchise are sure to be relieved to hear that Clark has aimed to ensure her portrayal fits alongside Blanchett's original performance. Only time will tell how they respond to her journey as new The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power episodes air Fridays on Prime Video.
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Source: THR