Long before she would save Gandalf the Grey in his quest to rid Middle-earth of evil, Galadriel was an Elven warrior, as seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The series will see Galadriel in her younger years as she senses the return of evil to Middle-earth that could disrupt a time of peace and embark on a quest to stop it.
Saint Maud star Morfydd Clark is leading the cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power as Galadriel. ing her is an ensemble roster of actors, some of whom include Robert Aramayo, Maxim Baldry, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Benjamin Walker, and Markella Kavenagh.
In anticipation of the show's premiere, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with stars Morfydd Clark, Charlie Vickers, Tyroe Muhafidin, and Maxim Baldry to discuss The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the franchise's legacy, their characters' journeys, and more.
Screen Rant: Excited to get to dive into The Rings of Power now that I finally saw the first two episodes. Morfydd, I'll start with you. Galadriel is one of the most well-known names in Tolkien lore. What was it like for you coming into that role with such a legacy behind her?
Morfydd Clark: It felt unreal to be coming into it. I think it was bit by bit, it started to seem possible to embody her by doing the stunts, by working with a movement director, by getting the ears, by getting the hair and the costume it was all these little bits. I've said this before, but rehearsing for this in a carpeted room in your athletic wear, it really feels quite silly and you need all those bits to get there. It was a huge job by all these amazing craftsmen around me to kind of get Galadriel to exist as a team effort.
It comes off really well, just in those first two episodes alone. I also love the dynamic that you and Charlie's character have in that second episode, what was it like for you two developing that rapport with one another?
Charlie Vickers: I think we'd known, by the time cameras rolled, each other for quite a long time, because we auditioned together a few times and then obviously, we moved to New Zealand. I think Morfydd was the first person there and I was the second person there.
Morfydd Clark: I'd been alone there for a week, just going completely weird, and Charlie arrived and I was like, "Hi!" [Chuckles]
Charlie Vickers: [Laughs] So we spent a lot of time there, and I think — didn't I live above you, for a while, in the same part of the building? I lived in the flat above, so I could lean over the balcony and wave. But yeah, so we knew each other really well by the time we actually started filming, which was nice and which was important, because we were stuck on the raft together with no one else around for quite a long time.
Morfydd Clark: But there was lots of talk about like, "Who has the power at which point?" Because it's quite push and pull, in that regard, and the other always thinks they have the power.
I'm excited to see where it goes next. Tyroe, your character also has quite an interesting start in this series. What has it been like for you coming into it and what can you tease about what comes next?
Tyroe Muhafidin: What can I tease, he gets into a little bit of mischief, he's a little bit rebellious, as we see, by going down into the barn. But it's super exciting, we see him start off not the happiest and it doesn't really go anywhere up from there. [Chuckles]
I think that's effectively vague, I know you can't give too much away. Maxim, I'll turn to you, the first two episodes, you're absent, you and Lloyd, what is it like for you having to continue to keep the finer details under wraps?
Maxim Baldry: Yeah, it's hard keeping it very vague, but at the same time, it's wonderful. There's so many characters in the first season, I think it's really important to give each world its time to evolve and grow and fall in love with. So for me, as a fan, watching the first two episodes, I was like, "Wow!" I wasn't in it, so I could really enjoy it.
Charlie Vickers: When you watch yourself, for me, it's quite painful, so you're free of that. [Laughs] I was sat next to you, watch as you were just like grinning the whole time.
Morfydd Clark: It's really nice to have defined worlds, some of which you're not in, as an actor.
Maxim Baldry: You're relaxed, as soon as you're like, "Oh, we're in the Númenor story."
Tyroe Muhafidin: It's like watching a whole other film.
Maxim Baldry: Yeah, because you don't actually know it, because we're living in our own worlds that, when you finally see it on screen, it's like watching like a fan.
Tyroe Muhafidin: Or even if like we'd read the script, but seeing it and reading it are so different. It's good to be able to sit back.
I love how grand in scale the first two episodes alone feel so far, and they feel very much up to par with the Peter Jackson films. What was it like for all of you coming into this with that legacy?
Morfydd Clark: What a legacy. I think the scale in which those films are made is the scale that Middle-earth requires, so I'm really glad that we've kind of gone for it so intensely, because you have to. It's massive and it's magical and there needs to be an element of cinema to it. So I was really glad we were working with J.A. as well, his imagination's insane, he shoots stuff beautifully and it's what Middle-earth deserves.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Synopsis
Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.
Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
Check out our interviews with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power cast at SDCC 2022, as well as with stars:
- Markella Kavenagh & Megan Richards
- Cynthia Addai-Robinson & Trystan Gavelle
- Maxim Baldry & Lloyd Owen
- Ismael Cruz Córdova & Nazanin Boniadi
- Benjamin Walker
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The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power begins streaming on September 1 on Prime Video.