The Cast Of Amazon's Lord Of The Rings Series Just Got Even Bigger
In 2017, Amazon beat out all other big streamers to obtain the global TV rights to the Lord of the Rings franchise. The deal saw the streaming platform spending close to $250 million for the rights, as well as securing a multi-season commitment for a television series, with the potential for a spin-off. Amazon got right to work on the show, which is said to focus on new stories set before J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring.
The lush, expansive Lord of the Rings universe has drawn in people from another highly successful fantasy series, Game of Thrones. Bryan Cogman, a writer and producer for Thrones, is on board for Amazon's LoTR; Joseph Mawle, who played Benjen Stark on GoT, is part of the new show's cast. And speaking of who will star in the show, Amazon announced a lot of the Lord of the Rings series' cast at the beginning of 2020. The roster includes Markella Kavanagh, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, and Daniel Weyman. Morfydd Clark is playing a young Galadriel, and Robert Aramayo — who replaced Will Poulter, who had to exit due to scheduling issues — is playing the lead, Beldor. Aramayo is another face familiar to Game of Thrones fans, as he played the younger version of Sean Bean's Ned Stark.
With some familiar names yet many new faces, the Lord of the Rings series seems full to the brim. But apparently not full enough, as Amazon just announced another bunch of actors that have roles in the series.
Amazon added 20 new actors to the cast of the Lord of the Rings series
The expansive ensemble cast now also includes Maxim Baldry, Ian Blackburn, Kip Chapman, Anthony Crum, Maxine Cunliffe, Thusitha Jayasundera, Fabian McCallum, Simon Merrells, Geoff Morrell, Lloyd Owen, Augustus Prew, Peter Tait, Alex Tarrant, Leon Wadham and Sara Zwangobani. A lot of the new cast members are young actors from New Zealand, while there are a handful of recognizable faces.
Cynthia Addai-Robinson, who was a series regular on Power and has had roles in Chicago Med and Shooter, has also been added to the cast — as has Benjamin Walker of Jessica Jones and The Choice fame; both are pictured above. Peter Mullan, who most recently starred in Cursed and Ozark, is also a part of the series, as are The Terror's Trystan Gravelle and well-known British comedian and actor Sir Lenny Henry.
Along with the casting announcement, the Lord of the Rings series showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay stated that "these extraordinarily talented performers, hailing from across the globe, represent the culmination of a multi-year search to find brilliant and unique artists to bring that world to life anew." Going on to call the large cast a "family," the two executive producers praised the new cast, saying, "We are thrilled to welcome each of them to Middle-earth."
After pausing production because of the pandemic, the Lord of the Rings Amazon series recently resumed production in New Zealand, and already has an official season 2 renewal, with more expected as part of Amazon's multi-season deal.