Aramayo, Zwangobani, Addai-Robinson & Weyman Interview: Rings of Power

With his mainline novels having already been adapted, J.R.R. Tolkien's works are getting a further expansion on screen with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The series will chronicle major Middle-earth events, including the forging of the titular rings, the rise of Dark Lord Sauron, and more.

Developed by J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power features a massive ensemble cast, some of whom include Morfydd Clark, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo, Markella Kavenagh, Owain Arthur, Maxim Baldry, and Benjamin Walker.

Ahead of the show's premiere, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with stars Robert Aramayo, Sara Zwangobani, Cynthia Addai-Robinson. and Daniel Weyman to discuss The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, developing their unique relationships, adapting Tolkien's more obscure material, and more.

Robert Aramayo in The Lord of Rings The Rings of Power

Screen Rant: I'm very excited to talk about The Rings of Power, especially now that I've finally seen it and am blown away by what I've seen. Robert, I'll turn to you first, Elrond is really quite a fascinating character, especially the dynamic he has with both Celebrimbor and Galadriel. What was it like for you developing your rapport with Morfydd and [Charles Edwards]?

Robert Aramayo: The wonderful Charles Edwards. I loved working with them and they're such different relationships, those two, you know? There's a reverence of Galadriel, she's a hero, she's a legend, she's living history. I think that that was really important, I really feel that he has a tremendous amount of respect for her in a very particular way, and there's a lot of heart in that relationship, where she's very close to him, and she's guided him in the past.

Whereas with Celebrimbor, it's a different kind of respect for a different type of legend. It's more practical of what he's achieved, what he's achieving his dream, his goal for Eregion is inspiring, you feel like you're being a part of history. We all wanted the relationships to be quite different, but I just felt really lucky to work with those two actors, because they're absolutely wonderful. They bring so much to the role, especially with Charlie Edwards, it's really difficult not to just laugh. [Laughs]

It's awesome that you got to build those relationships with everybody. Sara, Nori's relationship with her mother is really quite moving to watch. What was it like for you developing that chemistry with Markella?

Sara Zwangobani: It was such a gift to work with Markella, we spent a lot of time together going for walks and talks and delving into our character's backstory, and also with Dylan Smith, and Megan Richards, talking about how the Harfoots live and about how they react to each other and relate to each other. Markella and I are very, very close and she's a very intelligent, inquiring human. That was so challenging at times, and also such a gift at times, because we got to discover the story together and are still discovering the relationship between them. She doesn't like it, but she does feel a bit like my daughter in real life. [Laughs]

That's hilarious and great at the same time. Cynthia, last time we talked we discussed how Númenor would be in its prime. Are we going to see a further delving into the Adûniac language from Tolkien's work in that area?

Cynthia Addai-Robinson: Well, you're gonna see a few things with Númenor, and it's interesting, because what struck me — we got a chance, ourselves as a cast, to watch the first few episodes and there's so much incredible story, just in the first two, before you even get to Númenor, and the Númenor story is incredible. There's a lot to sort of unpack there, it's interesting, because every time we go to discuss it, there's so much I want to say, but I also don't want the audience to not get the opportunity to discover along the way this incredible island kingdom that, for some people, they have heard of it, or they're aware of it, but they've never seen it and they've never seen its inhabitants, and they've never seen it come to life.

I know that's sort of a circuitous route to what you originally asked, but I've been more inclined to be a bit more withheld about what you will ultimately see with Númenor. Because I think what's so creative with what JD and Patrick have come up with is they're making just really thoughtful choices about what the journey is going to be for Míriel, what the journey is going to be for Pharazôn and the other inhabitants and how they all cross paths and how different worlds come together. So even when I say that, I feel like I've already said too much, so I'll leave it there. [Laughs]

Well, I could appreciate wanting to keep that surprise for audiences. Daniel, your character is one that is probably the most wrapped in mystery at this point. What has that been like for you having to really keep all of that to yourself throughout all of this?

Daniel Weyman: It's weird, because when we all started, when we were cast, we were all, as is the way with modern shows, you actually have to be pretty secretive to protect the security of lots of different shows. We've all been sort of playing that game with this show for a while, and then we had scripts and wanting to keep who we were playing in the storylines secret, so it sort of feels like we've been doing that for three-and-a-half years, some of us, and suddenly now we're getting pretty close to the moment when we can start really talking about it. I feel there's this sort of unleashing of the celebration that we were never able to have when we were cast.

It feels like we're tantalizingly close to being able to share that with an audience, and similar to Cynthia's point, I think we've worked pretty hard to keep these things mysterious, because there are certain aspects of the Second Age, which if you wanted to, you could go and look up in the Tolkien source material. So the aspects where we don't know the answers, we don't know what's going to happen, feel like really precious jewels, because there's something that an audience is going to discover along the way with us. Fingers crossed, it doesn't all come out in the next two weeks, I'm really excited about the idea of an audience coming on that journey, in my case with my character, and just seeing how that pans out.

I'm also incredibly excited by the level of knowledge and community discussion that's been going on about who he might be, because it's all incredibly informed and people are staking their ideas to the mud. [Laughs] It's really great ow many people understand and know lots of stuff about it, it's really invigorating.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Synopsis

Miriel wearing her court garb in The Rings of Power

Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth's history. This epic drama is set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness.

Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

Check out our interviews with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power cast at SDCC 2022, as well as with stars: