When actor Owen Arthur first began the audition process for Amazon’s secret “Lord of the Rings” TV series, he was warned it would be long. and it was. But Arthur was the first to audition for the role of Dwarf Prince Durin, and little did he know at the time that he made such an impact that he remained on the production team’s mind for months.
“I remember the casting director saying to me, ‘You’re the first person we’re looking for this role,’ and apparently he said, ‘Well, of course it can’t be that easy. And people need to see.’ And that’s what he did,” Arthur told TheWrap in a recent interview, describing the insight he later received from showrunners JD Payne and Patrick Mackey. “They searched the world to see what else was out there and back they came back to good old Owen Arthur,” he said with a laugh.
To put it more succinctly: “They kind of went and kissed a lot of frogs and then came back.”
Arthur got the call that he won the role en route to the weekly football game. “I was on top of the world, I’m sure I played the best game of football that morning because I was full of adrenaline,” he recalled, but he wasn’t allowed to tell anyone yet.
After all, now the world knows what Arthur has been up to over the years. During the show’s first season so far, Arthur has brought a depth of both humor and emotion to the role of Prince Durin IV of Khazad-dm, the heir to the realm but who has a close friendship with the elf Elrond (Robert Aramayo). ) is let down by his father, King Durin (played by Peter Mullan).
That father-son friction came to the head in episode 7 (spoilers for whom follow below), in which Prince Durin and Elrond disobeyed King Durin’s orders to stop mining for Mithril. The rare and precious ore is vital to the survival of the people of Elrond, but is dangerous to capture.
The episode features Arthur’s most emotionally charged scenes with Mulan, and the cast recalls being curious how those scenes would play out because Mulan did not attend production until later in the shoot.
“There was a lot of expectation about how we would move forward and how our characters would move, and what the father and son dynamics would be,” Arthur recalled. But what the actor discovered is that Mulan took it easy.
“The amazing thing about working with Peter was that he’s such an effortless and extraordinary and talented actor, it’s that you usually need to talk about it. Everything was explored in that moment, and Each take was different. So it’s interesting to look back on which take they took. I think it’s very lively and comes to the moment, and of course we did that scene together.”
And while Arthur has no personal experience with royal bloodshed, he found it difficult not to pretend allegiance to someone of Mullan’s stature.
“Peter brings with him a very principled authority and weight that just commands respect, and fighting against the authority and dignity you love for your friend is a dangerous and exciting moment in that moment.” There was work, and so discovering that all people had just an absolute treat with Peter Mullan. I consider myself very lucky to now have that under my belt as an actor.”
When King Durin finds his son and Elrond mining Mithril disobeying his orders, Arthur and Mulan have a frank and tearful conversation in which King Durin remembers how happy he was to learn that his child had a difficult birth. Will live after But when Prince Durin dares to refer to Elrond as a brother, his father bursts out, cuts his collar off his neck and tells him to “leave”.
“It’s essentially being rejected by your father,” Arthur explained of the moment. “And he let go of you and his relationship with you as a king, dropped the possibility of being king and separated himself from me and it’s a big, vulnerable moment for Prince Durin to be alone and not know.” What’s around the corner. I think Durin has spent all his life trying to impress his father, wanting to live up to his father – he’s a very strong king and the dwarves are a very proud race, and tradition It’s a big part of their culture. So it’s a big deal for a human to be separated from it, let alone the dwarves who live in Khazad-Dim.”
The repercussions of the situation would undoubtedly be explored in the Season 1 finale, which Arthur remained silent about (“I don’t want to ruin it for everyone else… I love watching the show, so I’m a fan and I don’t ‘ I don’t want to spoil it all myself.”) But we do know that Prince Durin is back in Season 2, which has just started production.
And while Arthur has yet to begin filming his scenes for the second season, he is set to return to Middle-earth. “Let me tell you, I’m very excited. There’s more to come.”
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” is now streaming on Prime Video. The Season 1 finale airs October 13 at 9 p.m. PT/Oct. 14 a.m. 12 p.m. ET.
