Written by Julio Martinez
Prime Video is launching the series, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, introducing the fabled Second Age of Middle-Earth’s history, set thousands of years before the events of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Fans of the previous series are now taken back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen (Suaron) threatens to turn this world, inhabited by Elves, Dwarfs and Humans, into darkness.
There are two Latino actors in the ensemble — Robert Aramayo (Elrond) and Ismael Cruz Córdova (Arondir) — whose characters are greatly assisted in keeping Middle Earth in the “light.” Completing the cast of regulars are Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Morfydd Clark, Markella Kavenagh and Lloyd Owen.
Photo credit: Matt Grace
When asked how daunting was it to go into something new, with the history that Tolkien’s works have had, Puerto Rican-born Córdova replied, “The cast talks a lot about the trilogy. But we’re all professional actors and when you are approaching the work, you are concerned with things that are essential: honesty, truth, what drives your character, what is the essence of each role. You can’t really concern yourself with the largeness of it all, but we all have a lot of love for our characters.” Cordova first gained national attention playing Mando on Sesame Street, then was featured in the Showtime original series Ray Donavan and in the third season of Berlin Station, as Rafael Torres, an SOG operative. His current character, Arondir, is an Elf, with a forbidden love for the human healer Bronwyn (Boniadi).
Aramayo, born in England of Spanish descent, adds, “I have always loved the books and when I got to New Zealand to begin shooting the series, I started reading more and became really obsessed with Tolkien’s writing. There were a number of cast members who felt the same way. We formed the Legendarium Club. It was a salon with a bunch of very passionate people meeting and talking.” From 2016 to 2017 Aramayo also had some experience performing in the fantasy genre, playing the role of young Eddard Star in the sixth season of the HBO series, Game of Thrones. In 2021, he starred in the Netflix psychological thriller miniseries, Behind Her Eyes. In this series, his character Elrond is an Elvan, having both Elves and Humans as ancestors.
Boniadi, who plays Cordova’s love interest, who was a member of Aramayo’s Legndarium Club, exclaimed, “I read the fantastic essay, Fairy-Stories, by Tolkien. And the thing that resonated with me personally is that fantasy and myth cushion you into a world where you can comfortably explore your existential longing. What is it to be human? And for me that’s timeless.”
“Reflecting on what Nazanin said,” Cordova adds, “there’s something that I think about a lot. We are such a large cast and we’ve become a community and family, but we come from such different backgrounds. Yet, you still find yourself finding a little home in Tolkien. I grew up in Puerto Rico in houses with mud floors and experienced so many hardships in my life. And every time that I saw Tolkien — because I saved all my money to buy my first DVD, “The Lord of the Rings” — I felt myself in there. I felt that the spiritual and emotional connection, especially with the Elves coming from the mountains, I found a little home there. But for someone who grew up in perhaps a much easier life, they can also find their spirit there. You’re able to connect to the existential — I mean dread even — for the ways of the world.”
When asked what was the most difficult part of acting in the series, the members were in agreement –working with green screen. Owain Arthur exclaimed, “In my scenes with Rob Aramayo I played a dwarf and Aramayo as Elrond was much taller. So, with the height difference, I was often on my knees and Rob was on the top of a ladder.” Aramayo agreed, “The trickiest part of the green screen work was when you had to sort of match what you did on a smaller version of the set. And that’s where it gets really challenging. But I think what was good about it was we were just all kind of in it together.”
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” debuts on Prime Video in 240 countries and territories worldwide, in multiple languages, on September 2. The production was led by JD Payne, Showrunner, Executive Producer, Patrick McKay, Showrunner, Executive Producerand Lindsey Weber, Executive Producer. The series was produced by Amazon Studios with the Tolkien Estate, the Tolkien Trust, HarperCollins and New Line Cinema.