Who Are The Characters In Amazon's 'The Rings of Power'?
We still don’t know too much about Amazon’s Lord of the Rings series, The Rings of Power. And fans are eagerly awaiting news for the series that is set to release on September 2, 2022. But what we do know is that the cast of The Rings of Power is not small by any means and is made up of some amazing actors and actresses. Most fans agree the casts for The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies were incredible, and hopefully, this cast will live up to that. So, who is actually in the show, and what characters are they playing?
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power consists of many familiar characters and some that the creators, J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, have created for the show. The series takes place in the Second Age of Middle Earth, well before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Instead, it follows the sequence of events that happens after Morgoth, the first Dark Lord, is defeated and Sauron starts to rise to power the first time around. Payne and McKay have said that the show has a lot to work with regarding storyline ideas from The Appendices of The Lord of the Rings, which means we are definitely getting quite the cast of characters. One of the things that this show is making its mark on the world is its diverse cast of characters.
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Starting with a younger Galadriel. Morfydd Clark plays Galadriel in this series and has a lot to live up to from Cate Blanchett’s portrayal in The Lord of the Rings. According to Payne and McKay, Clark’s Galadriel is a fierce Elven warrior, and this series follows her journey from warrior to the more stately version of Galadriel we see later on. Younger Galadriel in the series believes that there is an evil still looming on the horizon. J.R.R. Tolkien himself did describe younger Galadriel as having an “Amazon disposition.”
Another familiar elf is making his way to the screen with Robert Aramayo playing a younger Elrond, a half-elven politician, and architect. Payne and McKay have said that throughout the series, Elrond goes from being optimistic to more closed off and world-weary, which we see in his later version. And yet, he is still a strong character.
The Second Age of Middle Earth and Sauron’s rise to power would not be complete without Isildur, who plays a pivotal role in the story. Isildur is played by Maxim Baldry. Payne and McKay have said that they wanted to show Isildur as more of a tragic character vs. a foolish one as portrayed in The Lord of the Rings movie. However, Tolkien also wrote Isildur as somewhere between tragic and foolish, and the show will explore that as it follows Isildur’s story of warrior and king.
Any avid Tolkien fan knows that if you name a show The Rings of Power, and say it’s going to be about the Rings of Power, you can’t have that show without Celebrimbor. Celebrimbor is the Elven-smith who is responsible for forging the Rings of Power. He forges all of them, three for the elves, seven for the dwarves, and nine for the mortal men, except for the One Ring, which Sauron, of course, forged in Mount Doom in secret. The One Ring was forged so that Sauron could have control of all the other rings and, by extension, the elves, dwarves, and men. Celebrimbor is played by Charles Edwards in the show. We aren’t sure how much of the show will focus on him, but his role is definitely pivotal.
Another essential character famous in Tolkien’s work is Gil-galad, who we saw in The Lord of the Rings movie at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Rings. He is the High King of the Elves, ruling from Linden, and has a pivotal role in the fight against Sauron. He is played by Benjamin Walker in the show.
The series will be focused on multiple storylines throughout, and one of these will be about the dwarves of Middle Earth. Owain Arthur is playing Durin IV, a prince of Khazad-dûm, which hopefully means fans will finally get to see Khazad-dûm in all of its glory.
Sophia Nomvete is playing a new character, Disa, a princess of Khazad-dûm, and is the first female dwarf and the first dwarf of color to be shown on screen.
There aren’t any Hobbits per se in the Second Age of Middle Earth, but Tolkien briefly mentioned that they were descended from the Harfoots, who are from the Second Age. Lenny Henry made history by being the first person of color cast as a Harfoot and will be playing one of their elders but has not, as of now, been given a name. Likewise, Megan Richards is playing another Harfoot but has not been given a name.
Markella Kavenagh will be playing Elanor “Nori” Brandyfoot and is right now the only Harfoot given a name.
McKay and Payne created two new characters that fans have been fascinated about. Nazanin Bonaidi is playing Bronwyn, a human mother. She is a healer and owns an Apothecary in the Southlands. Ismael Cruz Córdova is playing Arondir, a Silvan elf. Both of the characters are in love, and of course, since Bronwyn is human and Arondir is an elf, it is forbidden. This relationship is a call back to Aragorn and Arwen and Beren and Lúhien from The Silmarillion. Many fans are excited about the storyline, while some are wary of it since it is not in Tolkien’s work.
Another new character is Halbrand, a human played by Charlie Vickers. He is running from his past and ends up meeting Galadriel. According to Payne and McKay, their storylines intertwine throughout the series, but we don’t yet know what that entails since he is a new character, and she is not.
A few other characters are listed. Simon Merrells plays a character named Trevyn, and Daniel Weyman plays someone called the Stranger. Right now, we have no idea who these people are supposed to be, although there is much speculation with the fans.
Many more people have been announced as in the cast, but their roles have not been announced as of yet. For now, we know that these characters above will most likely be the key players in the series. But, since it does encompass Middle Earth and years of history, there is sure to be a massive stellar cast. Hopefully, Amazon will be releasing more details as to who is playing what in the coming months before the series release.
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