Amazon's THE LORD OF THE RINGS Series Adds 20 New Cast Members
Twenty new actors have joined the cast of Amazon’s highly anticipated Middle Earth-set series inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.
The new actors that have been announced include Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Maxim Baldry, Ian Blackburn, Kip Chapman, Anthony Crum, Maxine Cunliffe, Trystan Gravelle, Sir Lenny Henry, Thusitha Jayasundera, Fabian McCallum, Simon Merrells, Geoff Morrell, Peter Mullan, Lloyd Owen, Augustus Prew, Peter Tait, Alex Tarrant, Leon Wadham, Benjamin Walker, and Sara Zwangobani.
They join the previously announced cast members Robert Aramayo, Owain Arthur, Nazanin Boniadi, Tom Budge, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Ema Horvath, Markella Kavenagh, Joseph Mawle, Tyroe Muhafidin, Sophia Nomvete, Megan Richards, Dylan Smith, Charlie Vickers, and Daniel Weyman.
Game of Thrones alum Bryan Cogman is serving as a consulting producer on the show, and J.A. Bayona (A Monster Calls, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) is set to direct multiple episodes. J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay are leading the charge on the project as the writers and showrunners. Payne and McKay said in a statement:
“The world that J.R.R. Tolkien created is epic, diverse, and filled with heart. 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. The international cast of Amazon’s The ‘Lord of the Rings’ series is more than just an ensemble. It is a family. We are thrilled to welcome each of them to Middle-earth.”
The series will be set in the Second Age, which is about 3,000 years of history between the series and the beginning of The Lord of the Rings. Amazon has committed to five seasons of the series, and they will spend over a billion dollars bringing the story to life. It’s been said that the series will have a “mind-blowing” scale.
The show’s official Twitter account previously shared an image of a map teasing the setting along with two messages: “One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie,” as well as, “Welcome to the Second Age.”
In Tolkien’s Middle Earth mythology, the Second Age was the time in which the Rings of Power, including Sauron’s One Ring, came into existence. It was also teased that the film could involve the island of Numenor. The series will be shot in New Zealand, and the studio also announced that they are already moving forward on Season 2.
The Lord of the Rings series is produced by Amazon Studios in cooperation with the Tolkien Estate and Trust, HarperCollins, and New Line Cinema. It is expected to debut in 2021.