From showrunnersJD Payne & Patrick McKay, the Prime Video seriesThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Poweris set in the Second Age of Middle-earth’s history, thousands of years before the events ofJ.R.R. Tolkien’sThe HobbitandThe Lord of the Ringsand at a time when the Dark Lord Sauron, believed by all to have been defeated, is quietly planning his comeback. Following an ensemble cast of characters consisting of both familiar faces (like Galadriel and Elrond) as well as newcomers (the Harfoots, the Stranger, and Halbrand, to name a few), the first season, which consists of a total of eight episodes, has clearly only told the beginnings of the planned story.
With more to come (the series has already been renewed for a second season which is currently in production), Collider had the opportunity to speak withRings of Powercast membersIsmael Cruz Córdova, who plays the pensive Silvan elf Arondir,Markella Kavenagh, who plays the adventurous Harfoot Nori Brandyfoot, andOwain Arthur, who plays the boisterous Dwarven prince Durin IV.
Over the course of the interview, which you can read below, Córdova, Kavenagh, and Arthur reflected on some of their characters' most pivotal moments from Season 1, including Arondir’s growing relationship with Theo (Tyroe Muhafidin) and Nori’s decision to leave her home and go traveling with the Stranger (Daniel Weyman). Córdova also revealed whether there was ever a version of Arondir with long hair, and Arthur teased what fans can expect heading into Season 2 now that Durin has been disowned by his father, King Durin III (Peter Mullan) and seemingly stripped of his title.
Collider: Ismael, many of the elves that we’ve seen in the world of Tolkien have these long locks. Was there ever a version of Arondir that had long hair? Did you ever test with a wig or extensions or was his hair always short?
ISMAEL CRUZ CÓRDOVA: There was a moment in which I did test with a wig. I did the wig, and it was unfortunate, I think. The conversation… they were leaning very strongly towards short hair from the beginning. I was one of the people that wanted to have long hair, and then we tested a few things, and it just wasn’t really hitting. And as the character developed, just felt more appropriate for him to be short-haired.
Markella, there are a lot of filming tricks in this show involving your character and forced perspective, especially when it comes to the Harfoots. In the scenes that you have with Daniel, there’s a lot of that trickery that has to happen to make the two of you look very different sizes. When it came to how those scenes were filmed, did they change your approach to the character, especially when Nori is meant to be so much smaller in these spaces?
MARKELLA KAVENAGH: That’s a really interesting question. With Daniel Weyman, who plays The Stranger, a lot of it was actually just leaning into how we felt during the scenes, how our characters felt during the scenes, and how they interacted rather than focusing on the size difference or the height difference, per se.
If there was anything, it was just more how The Stranger would interact with nature and have this seeming lack of control over the environment, but then would be able to use it to, even if it was unintentional, induce fear or incite fear in Nori. If anything, it was about how their dynamic evolved over the course of it and that the height difference wasn’t necessarily something… obviously this could be an intimidation that comes from that, but it definitely wasn’t the focus point of why she’d feel fearful when around The Stranger, it was more how The Stranger was as a being, and how they were still figuring out how they could communicate.
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Owain, as far as Durin and Disa’s relationship goes, compared to a lot of other relationships on the show and dynamics that have to evolve, you and Sophia [Nomvete] come into this playing an established relationship, a married couple who have been together for a while and have that certainty. A lot of what we get from them is written on the page, but the two of you really seem to have a bond that works together off-screen. How did you two nurture that on-camera relationship together when you weren’t on set?
OWAIN ARTHUR: Well, following up when we first met, we instantly hit it off, and I instantly felt relaxed in her company and I think she felt relaxed in mine. Because she started telling me what to do straight away. How to make her a proper cup of tea was one of them. Speaking of tea, that’s mainly what we did — go to each other’s apartments, drink tea, discuss, not discuss, cook for each other. And it’s very rarely so when you meet someone, and you just instantly hit it off and Sophia is one of those people. You just instantly fall in love with that. It was very easy to feel comfortable and therefore explore with her on-set. It made me feel at ease and, hopefully, her too, that we were able to be angry with each other and then instantly turn into a passionate case on a turn of a six-point. Having that as a base from the get-go was well, it was perfect. It was perfect casting, I have to say.
Ismael, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard the saying, “He’s not a stepdad, but he is the dad who stepped up”?
CÓRDOVA: I’ve seen it on Twitter.
To keep talking about these evolving dynamics in Season 1, one of the relationships that really evolves is Theo and Arondir.I’ve spoken to Tyroe about it previously, but from your perspective, how did the two of you really try to emphasize the progression there over the course of the season?
CÓRDOVA: A lot of what it was was on the page. The dynamic was very much in a patient situation. And off-screen, we just became closer and closer and closer, and that mentor relationship actually developed parallel to that or maybe even before. Even aside from it being on the page, it was our growth and how our relationship developed. Tyroe came to the show as a boy, and he just transformed into this preteen and then a full-on teen and into a young man. In that time, I was… having started acting around the same age that he started, around 14, 15 years old, I felt very protective of him and [was] trying not to be naggy, but I was always on him with the advice with “Try this, try that, help yourself, protect yourself. Lean on me, lean on this person, lean on that person, stay grounded.” As we kept shooting and the characters kept developing, I think that served as a great backbone to the relationship.
Markella, at the end of Season 1, Nori decides to leave. Even though the Harfoots are travelers by nature, she’s leaving the only home that she’s ever known to go on this journey into the unknown. What fuels her choice to leave in that moment? Or has it been building up to this since the beginning?
KAVENAGH: It’s definitely been building up from the beginning. I think she just wasn’t quite sure how that feeling would manifest. It was really important for me to ground her curiosity and how interested she was in the unknown in something other than just a selfish interest in that. I think it was more to see how she could help improve their quality of life and help them find a home. So she may not be able to articulate it at this point, but I do think that’s in her subconscious when she leaves. That’s also part of the intention and part of the pull — of getting out of the Harfoot community, and seeing what that will bring.
Owain, with Durin being disowned by his father or stripped of his princely title, there’s definitely a big shake-up for him. How is that going to impact him heading into Season 2? He has Disa’s support, but obviously, the quest for mithril has been too much for the king to really tolerate at this point.
ARTHUR: Certainly, I think that moment happened in Episode 7, where we saw the mithril have an effect on that dead leaf on the table. That was an instant sign for Durin and Disa, that mithril has a quality that would actually help something in a certain capacity. Nobody knows what mithril can do at this point, but all Durin knows at that moment is that “If I can help save my best friend’s life, if I have a hand in not making him vanish, then I will do whatever I can no matter what the outcome.”
I think he was willing to sacrifice everything for Elrond in that moment, and he feels very passionate about him. Like he says in that scene with his father, “Elrond is like a brother to me, like he’d been fired up in my own mother’s womb.” So it’s a really strong connection and therefore the loss of Elrond would mean the end of the world for him. But unfortunately, he is disowned by his father, he didn’t get the reaction that he wanted. It’s certainly not a happy ending for Durin at the end of Season 1, and yet the consequences are huge. So Season 2, moving forward, it will be interesting to see how Durin survives, where he sits in society, whether he stays in Khazad-dum or not, whether his relationship with his father will be rekindled or if mithril will have an effect on them. Who knows? I’m certainly looking forward to exploring that. It’s really difficult not to answer this question.
This show has such a wonderful ensemble, such a wide cast of characters, and it’s set across just huge swaths of Middle-earth. As a result, I imagine that there are cast members that you have not shared the screen with. Who from the cast would you want to do a scene with that you haven’t yet?
CÓRDOVA: Everyone but Owain.
ARTHUR: I’ve got it in my contract that I should not have a scene with Ismael. That’s all I ask.
CÓRDOVA: Well, Owain and I would just have tension. I would love to do a scene with… I mean, the two people here are some of the funnest people on screen, Markella and Owain, and I would love to have a scene with either of them. In terms of contrast, I’d love to do a scene with Robert [Aramayo], Elrond and Arondir. I just don’t even know how that would go, so I’d love to experience that.
KAVENAGH: Gosh, I mean, I genuinely everyone would just be so… it would be so interesting to see on-screen. I remember one time I was filming in a studio when Númenór was, and so I was able to go as Nori into Númenór, so there’s a part of me that just wants to wind up there at some point. But genuinely everyone, it’d be so fun.
ARTHUR: I think The Stranger and Durin would be an interesting scene, just to see how Durin would react to actual magic. I’d like that.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Poweris currently available to stream on Prime Video.
