JRR Tolkien never set out to tell the story of the Second Age, but he did leave clues to reconstruct it. Thus, as two detectives, Patrick McKay and John D. Payne, by the hand of Tolkien experts, collected all the mentions of this historical moment within The Lord of the rings to build a story that would help understand how people lived at that time and how darkness took over the world.
To do this, they not only had to play the role of two established historians (they worked four years on this detective mission), but they had to choose the best interpreters, those who understood Tolkien’s work and could transmit it, not only to fans, but to a new audience. Thus, many had to build their roles from scratch to shape their races and cultures.
To find out how all these characters were created, we talked to some of their interpreters, who agreed that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power it became a real family.
elves
“One of the biggest challenges was understanding the concept of immortality”: Benjamin Walker (Gil-Galad)
What was it like participating in a series with such a diverse cast?
Ismael Cruz Cordova (Arondir): Peter Jackson’s films, which is a great work of cinema and had a great impact on me, were made in a different world, two decades ago. Now the topic of conversation is different, the look is different, the world is different, the mentality is different. In reality, the world that Tolkien created is diverse, it has many races, so the only thing that was done was to add the current concepts of diversity.
benjamin walker
(Gil-galad): It was something that Tolkien understood. He put all his love and effort into creating a diverse society, in which the only way to survive was by joining forces.
What were the challenges you faced with your characters?
Robert Aramayo as Elrond: We all had a lot of challenges. One in particular was that they had to make me look very tall to make someone else look very short. The incredible thing is that all this was achieved on set, not in separate shots, but on set, so everything was very careful, there were miniature tools and objects so that every detail remained in the scene and looked as real as possible.
With everything and this, it didn’t feel weird, we could look into each other’s eyes and carry the scene.
benjamin walker
(Gil-galad): Immortality for the elves. The human brain is not capable of understanding what eternity means. They explain to one that the universe is infinite, but after that explanation one can go to lunch (laughs). But an elf lives with that concept, he spends his whole life seeing destruction and death. He sees that things repeat themselves. So trying to understand this in order to look at the world from an elf’s perspective is a challenge, but also a pleasure.
Ismael Cruz Cordova (Arondir): I had to create my character from scratch, so my challenge was to focus, not to leave the world I was representing, to keep my references. The advantage is that we become a family, one made up of great artists who support you all the time.
How did they build their characters? Did they take references from the movies?
Robert Aramayo (Elrond): What was really exciting about working on this project is that not much is known about the Second Age, there are a lot of gaps in the story, so it was fertile ground where we could do great things. So it was fun. But no, they were useful to me, but nothing more.
Charles Edwards (Celebrity): The truth is that I don’t know anyone from the movies and I didn’t see them at the time (laughs). I grew up with the animated series, that was my world. Sure, I finally had to watch the movies, but I didn’t want to form any ideas when it came to playing the character.
In years
“We want Middle-earth to be your escape”: Owain Arthur (Durin IV)
What is the differential of this series? What do you want to convey?
Owain Arthur (Durin IV): We want you to have a good time and take away a positive message from this story.
When we were filming the series, they decreed the pandemic, we were in New Zealand and we felt that Middle Earth was our escape. That’s what we want the public to feel.
Sophia Nomvete (Disa): This franchise opens the doors for all kinds of people to see that they have the opportunity to emerge. It’s showing new generations that the world we live in is diverse, that Tolkien’s world is diverse, that there are different races, different people, and that it’s okay, that we can all live with those differences.
hairy
“We became a family and Poppy wouldn’t be what she is without all the people around”: Megan Richards (Poppy Proudfellow)
How did they build their characters?
Megan Richards (Poppy Proudfellow): For me, the most important thing was learning to move. We had a physical trainer who gave us references from the beginning. She had to create the physical part of Poppy, how she ran, how she moved, the expressions…
But what helped me the most were my companions, it’s a great cast and we all helped each other to perfect our characters. It became a family.
Sara Zwangobani (Marigold Brandyfoot): I agree. I was late for filming and had to catch up on the costumes, the characters, the spaces, but when I had a moment to talk to the other actors, that’s when I discovered what my character was like. Actually, it’s like a family, we all understood each other perfectly very quickly and that helped us a lot. In addition, the creators helped us a lot, because they were in love with all the characters, so they transmitted that emotion to us.
Humans
“It is a group of people who face problems as best they can with what they have”: Lloyd Owen (Elendil)
What connects the series with the public?
Leon Wadham (Keman): Leaving aside that it is fantasy, it is a story about good, evil, families, love, hate, relationships, friendship, they are themes that the public can identify with. It is also seeing how these characters make decisions, how they face problems as best they can with what they have.
Lloyd Owen (Elendil): It is a group of people who are in the middle of situations that are not under their control and that leads them to think that the only thing left is faith, something that is also seen in Tolkien’s books.
Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Miriel): It’s an international cast. For example, my mom is from Ghana, my dad is American, and I was born in England. And the rest of those who make the series have a similar story. So it’s a Show that has contributions from all cultures, because we all try to imprint that on our characters. It’s like Middle Earth! There all races unite to defeat a common enemy.
I believe that The Rings of Power it can reach the whole world, the whole public feels identified.
Nazanin Boniadi (Bronwyn): It is a story of good guys versus bad guys, unity, of overcoming obstacles. The message of the series is optimistic, because in the end what connects the world is the hope of a better tomorrow, of coming together to overcome the darkness. Which is what we all want to see.