The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power was characterized in its first season by the absence of stars: the names that attracted the most attention were that of the British Peter Mullan (Ozark) and that of Nazanin Boniadi (Homeland), better known as the girlfriend that the Church of Scientology found for Tom Cruise (and who ended up disenchanted with the institution). But, ahead of the new season in production, showrunners John D. Payne and Patrick McKay will have a veteran of film and television and also a veteran of Game of Thrones: Ciarán Hinds, whose role he will play is unknown.
The Irish actor who was King-Beyond-The-Wall in five episodes of the HBO series and who was nominated for an Oscar in 2022 for his work on Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast is one of three new signings announced. Also joining the cast is Tanya Moodie, who has worked on The Discovery of Witches, and Rory Kinnear, a British television regular with roles in Our Flag Means Death, Inside no. 9 or the Russell T. Davies miniseries Years and Years.
These signings are added to the already announced signings of Gabriel Akuwudike, Yasen Atour, Ben Daniels, Amelia Kenworthy, Nia Towle, Nicholas Woodeson, Oliver Alvin-Wilson, Stuart Bowman, Gavi Singh Chera, William Chubb, Kevin Eldon, Will Keen, Selina Lo , Calam Lynch and Sam Hazeldine, who will have the mission to replace Joseph Mawle in the disturbing role of Adar, the deviant elf turned leader of the orcs.
The second season of the Lord of the Rings prequel by J.R.R. Tolkien is currently shooting in the UK after production moved to the British Isles from New Zealand. After investing more than 400 million dollars there, Amazon Studios preferred to change locations for economic and practical reasons: the pandemic caught the team in the oceanic country off guard and, between the development of the coronavirus and New Zealand’s policies, there were difficulties in that workers could return to their homes and reconcile work and family life.
The second season, which will continue to feature Payne and McKay as chief creative officers, features only female directors: Charlotte Brandström (Outlander, The Witcher), Sanaa Hamri (Desperate Housewives, Glee) and Louise Hopper (The Witcher, Sandman) will go behind the scenes in the eight announced episodes. In Brändström’s case, she will also be an executive producer and is therefore expected to oversee the direction of the entire season to maintain her unity and tone.
Of course, the fact that The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is in full production does not mean that it will appear in the Amazon Prime Video catalog imminently: its premiere is expected for 2024.
