Benjamin Walker Details The Epic Rings Of Power Production Process - Exclusive

Benjamin Walker has studied at Juilliard, taken the stage single-handed as a stand-up comedian, donned costumes on Broadway, and even portrayed a vampire-slaying president on screen. But all of his past acting experiences pale in comparison to the size and scope of his role in Prime Video's "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power."

Walker plays Gil-galad, the High King of the Noldor and the leader of the Elvish kingdom of Lindon. The character doesn't show up much in J.R.R. Tolkien's writings, but when he does, he always has a big presence. The Elven leader senses Sauron's evil brewing long before the Dark Lord reveals himself. He rejects Sauron in his deceptive form as "Annatar, the Lord of Gifts" as well. Gil-galad eventually protects two of the Three Elven Rings, too, and ultimately rallies the peoples of Middle-earth to attack Sauron in his own stronghold of Mordor.

Playing a character that carries this kind of weight isn't an easy task — and it's a challenge that Walker is well aware of. "Any time I feel stumped, I go back to the source material," the actor said when he sat down for an interview with Looper earlier this summer. "You go back to the books, even if it's not specifically about Gil-galad."

Walker didn't just have Tolkien's original text to draw inspiration from, though. The actor also talked about the inspiring (and jaw-dropping) nature of "The Rings of Power" production itself.

It's no secret that "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" is a massive project. The budget for the show has been thrown around since day one — starting with the hundreds of millions of dollars that Amazon shelled out for story rights alone. From there, a ton of other time, effort, and resources were poured into a multi-year production schedule that pre-dated the pandemic.

Benjamin Walker was right in the middle of the opulent production action, and the actor highlighted a moment right at the beginning that underscored just how gargantuan the project was: "The first day I was on set, we walked into this sound stage and there were half a million gold hand-painted leaves on the ground." That one statement says it all — the immaculate attention to detail, right down to the leaves themselves, shows the dedication that the creative team has had for this project from the get-go.

It's a deep sense of commitment that isn't lost on the Gil-galad actor, either, who addressed the feelings that witnessing such an incredible group effort evoked. "You're looking at this army of technicians and craftsmen and artists, and you know the grueling labor that has gone into that and their placement on the ground," he said. "It moves me. I feel gobsmacked by it. I think it's the bare minimum that you need to tell these stories properly." It's a sentiment that has quickly come to be felt by many others as the first season of the show has finally started to air.

The first two episodes of "The Rings of Power" are now available on Prime Video. The third episode airs on September 9, followed by weekly releases for the rest of the 8-episode first season.