Diverse LOTR series ‘more representative’ of real world

IT was not a conscious decision for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies to feature mainly white male actors in leading roles.

Jackson was casting actors who resembled descriptions laid out in author J.R.R. Tolkien’s seminal high fantasy works, which were published in 1937.

However, in Amazon’s highly anticipated upcoming series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, creators J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay had license from the author's estate to not only expand Tolkien’s cinematic universe, but to also hire an “inclusive cast” to be more reflective of the current world.

This has led to the series having an ensemble of 21 leads, resulting in the most diverse, gender-balanced Middle-earth in live action, with more female characters and actors of colour playing elves and Harfoots.

The full cast turned up at San Diego Comic-Con last weekend to preview new footage of the series.

“We’re talking about a global show, and a global audience. This is now the reality. This is not about taking the narrow view,” said Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who stars as Númenor’s human queen regent Míriel.

“And to me this is about inviting people in and being expansive. And if you’re going to tell this story in 2022, this to me feels like the only way to tell it, the only way to represent it. And I think people have been really hungry to see full representation in this world”.

“Because at the end of the day, this story is all about people of different backgrounds coming together for a common cause.”

Markella Kavenagh, who plays the Harfoot Nori Brandyfoot, hopes that not just the series, but the industry continues to become more inclusive.

Co-star Megan Richards added that she “can’t wait for the time when that’s not even a question anymore”.

The prequel series will be set thousands of years before The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, in the Second Age of Middle-earth, based on writings from the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, as well as other Tolkien works like The Silmarillion.

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