A version of this story about “The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power” first appeared in the Guilds & Critics Awards/Documentaries issue of awards magazine TheWrap.
For the cast of Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power,” the road to Middle-earth was not a straight line. For some, like Ismael Cruz Córdova, who plays the elven warrior on the run Arondir, it was a path with multiple dead ends.
After his first few rounds of auditions for “an Aragorn-type character”, he was told he was out of the running. “I was like, no, I’m not going to take no for an answer,” Córdova told TheWrap. He wrestled and got another audition, this time going all out by recruiting friends to help him with cameras and lighting. Again, they told him no. Once again, he struggled and then received a “final email” from the showrunners saying they were going in a different direction. “So I started to grieve for the character,” he said.
Then suddenly another screen test materialized. This time, the night before the audition, Córdova received a piece of information that completely changed the focus of the role for him: the character she was auditioning for was an elf. “It’s a completely different performance,” she said. “But that’s what I always wanted to do.” He auditioned with a scene where Arondir has to cut down a tree and, armed with his new knowledge, improvised a moment where his character apologizes to the tree. “And I dropped the microphone,” he added with a smile. The paper was his.
The commitment to the series and the respect with which Córdova approached the role of Arondir is a common thread running through all cast members on the expansive set of “The Rings of Power.” Sophia Nomvete, who plays the dwarf Disa, was nine months pregnant when she was called to audition for an “Untitled Amazon Project,” and was two days away from her due date when she was asked to do a screen test for director JA Bayona. “I switched to London, the midwife was on speed dial, begging me not to go, and I was like, ‘You’ve got this,’” Nomvete said. Eight weeks after giving birth, Nomvete and her family were on a plane to New Zealand, preparing for the adventure of a lifetime for her.
Showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay worked with casting director Theo Park to find their ensemble. “While we were open to more established actors, we felt early on that the show would bring in a lot of new faces,” they wrote to TheWrap in an email. “Although the criteria for each role was obviously unique, the only overall qualification for each person we cast was this: they had to have Middle-earth in them.”
Payne and McKay recognized three key roles that were particularly difficult to cast.
“We saw hundreds of actors for [Galadriel]. Their journey anchors the entire first season of the show, and we knew we needed someone special; someone who could step into an iconic character and bring to life what fans already love about Galadriel, while also illuminating new facets of the character for who she was in the Second Age,” they said. “Morfydd intrigued us from our first audition for him. The fiery strength and intensity of her was perfect. She felt like someone who carried the weight of immortal pain, but also brought enough impetuous spark that the character had room to grow throughout the story, until she became the wise queen she is destined to become one day. ”.
For the aforementioned Arondir they wanted someone “with the physique of a warrior, but also with the heart of a lover and the eternal wisdom of a poet” and they were “grateful” for having found Córdoba.
And then, perhaps most obviously, The Stranger, whose identity remains a secret at the end of season 1 and who has very little dialogue. “The Stranger was difficult to cast simply because the task he had to perform was so bizarre,” the showrunners said. “Introducing a character of enormous power into the world; a character with complex origins, feelings, and goals, all while he barely says a single word. In Daniel Weyman, we found a joyous, elderly soul who was always up for adventure and willing to do anything to bring this character to life. And wait until you hear him talk more in Season 2!
Of course, the actor who plays Sauron on the show had an added challenge in that he played two characters for the entire season, and his sinister intentions weren’t revealed until the very end.
“His performance had to be compelling as the lost and rogue king who finds his way back to his crown, but we also knew that he would eventually need to be able to embody the Dark Lord,” the showrunners said. “To achieve the latter without giving away the secret too early, we auditioned actors with monologues from classic literature and theater, such as ‘Paradise Lost’ and ‘Richard III.’ Actually, it wasn’t until a few months after the shoot that we finally drew the curtain and told our actor everything.”
For some of the actors, stepping foot on the immaculately crafted sets was enough to transport them to the world of JRR Tolkien. “I think the first day I was on the set (of Númenor) will burn into my brain,” said actress Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who plays Queen Regent Míriel. But for Owain Arthur, playing the dwarf prince Durin meant getting comfortable with pounds of make-up and transformative prosthetics. “I had to quickly adjust to wearing prosthetics, wearing a beard, having a heavy costume in the heat, and then also trying to be one with it,” he said. Once he learned what he likened to puppeteers, Arthur says it’s now “the job I’m most proud of.”
The set of The Rings of Power was collaborative, particularly as they were “thrown into a whirlwind,” as Nomvete called it, when the pandemic shut down production. While some people went home, many of the cast members stayed in New Zealand and forged a lifelong bond. “This is a friendship, a family and a camaraderie,” Nomvete said. “It was such a unique bond because it was a unique moment and a unique situation.” Harfoot actors raiding his fridge, pulling splinters out of the foot of actress Morfydd Clark, who plays Galadriel, and many rounds of charades made the on-screen performances in the finished series all the more impressive for the cast, which often split into separate units during production and not overlapping.
“Now I look at them and I see them showcasing the most exceptional work that I have ever seen,” Nomvete said. Payne and McKay began emailing Tolkien quotes to the cast every day to foster a sense of community, and they say they were thrilled to discover that spontaneous Tolkien book club study groups were springing up among the actors.
“We were incredibly touched by how they cared for and cared for each other, which was especially vital as we all got through the lockdown together in New Zealand during COVID,” the showrunners said.
And while the cast cites different moments as the most challenging during an epic multi-year production—some physical, some psychological—Nomvete’s recollection summed up the ultimate goal for each member of the ensemble. “Every day, we challenged ourselves and our knowledge and our creative power, and what Tolkien has given us through his incredible works,” he said with a smile. “Each day was its own perfect, beautiful, creative challenge.”
